Glasgow 2001

In 2001 a Scottish man was the first person convicted for sexual HIV transmission in the UK. He was a white heterosexual male who contracted HIV in prison from sharing injecting equipment. He subsequently infected his female partner, after allegedly telling her he had tested HIV negative in prison. 

He was sentenced to five years. Under Scottish law he was found guilty of the offence of ‘causing reckless injury’.

An interesting aspect of the case was the seizure and use as evidence by police of a blood sample given by the man as part of a research study, raising issues of confidentiality for those involved in research.