Jamaican Male to Serve 3 Years for Intentionally Transmitting HIV to UK Woman
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According to reports, a Jamaican man was sentenced to three years through a Chester Crown Court after it was revealed that he knowingly infected a UK (United Kingdom) woman with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).
The male, Jermaine Scott, was initially accused of spreading the virus to the woman in 2009, who he had a relationship with prior, but upon learning that she tested positive for HIV, he fled. A warning was then issued that the police were on the lookout for Scott.
The accused was dating the victim before he was diagnosed with HIV (in 2005) and after he contracted the virus, they got back together. Though Scott was given medication in order to control the spread of the disease, it was reported that he had stopped taking the medication, but still had unprotected sex with the victim.
It was said that his HIV status was not revealed to her before intercourse, and although Scott was taken in by law enforcement in the UK in 2011, there was no conclusive evidence for them to charge him with. The 39-year-old, who was living in the UK illegally, was deported to Jamaica shortly after.
However, in 2022, a genetic link was found by medical experts between Scott’s strain of the virus and that of the victim’s, and thus Scott was extradited to the United Kingdom where he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.
According to police, Scott’s sentencing, while deemed insufficient, is hoped to have given the victim some peace of mind. It was stated after the sentencing that the victim suffered physical and psychological trauma due to the ordeal, and has lost her trust in the opposite gender.
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