A man who deliberately tried to infect 10 men with HIV was told by one of his victims: “I would rather he had murdered me than left me to live my life like this” as he was given a life sentence on Wednesday. Daryll Rowe, a 27-year-old hairdresser from Brighton, showed no emotion as he was told that he must serve at least 12 years for the “determined, hateful campaign of sly violence” during a sentencing hearing at the city’s crown court. 
 
 “As long as he has strength in his body, he will be a risk,” Rowe’s 10th victim, who was not infected, said after the hearing. “He is a menace to society. He is a sociopath because I don’t think he has any regard for other people’s feelings.” Other victims told how they had considered suicide, having suffered physical and psychological damage at Rowe’s hands. 
 
 One, whose parents died of Aids when he was a child, said he “did everything” to prevent himself catching the virus. “Daryll Rowe decided to take that right away from me. A part of me died that day when I was diagnosed. The old me is no longer. The new me is constantly sad, thinking about how my life changed. I have been devastated by Rowe’s actions, but I want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.” 
 
 The judge, Christine Henson QC, told Rowe he had acted “with the full knowledge of the risk you posed to others” in a “deliberate campaign to infect other men” with HIV. “Unfortunately for five of the men you met, your campaign was successful.” 
 
 
 
 She said Rowe was the first person to be sentenced for grievous bodily harm in such circumstances and told him he would “potentially remain a danger to others for the rest of [his] life”. 
 
 After being diagnosed in April 2015 in his home city of Edinburgh, Rowe met men through the gay dating app Grindr. He had sex with eight of them in Brighton, in East Sussex, between October that year and February 2016, before fleeing to north-east England, where he targeted two more men. 
 
 His six-week trial heard that he refused treatment and ignored advice from doctors. He insisted on having unprotected sex with the men he met, claiming that he was “clean”. When they refused, he tampered with condoms, tricking them into thinking that he was practising safe sex. 
 
 Afterwards, Rowe became aggressive, and taunted some of his victims in text messages. He told one: “I have HIV. Lol. Whoops!” He repeatedly lied to authorities and would use aliases with the people he targeted. 
 
 Sentencing him on Wednesday, the judge told him: “Many of those men were young men in their 20s at the time they had the misfortune to meet you. Given the facts of this case and your permissive, predatory behaviour, I cannot see when you would no longer be a danger to gay men. In my judgment, the offences, taken together, are so serious that a life sentence is justified.” 
 
 Rowe appeared in court wearing a grey suit and an open-collared white shirt. He was convicted of five charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempting to do so. 
 
 
 
 During his trial, he told jurors he believed he had been cured of HIV by the time he moved to Brighton, having started drinking his own urine as a treatment, supplemented with natural remedies.. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Darryll Rowe told one of his victims 'I got you. Burn, you have it' 
 
 A man who said he was "riddled" with HIV and convicted of trying to infect 10 men has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years. 
 
 Daryll Rowe, 27, infected five men he had unprotected sex with and sabotaged the condoms of another five in Brighton and Northumberland. 
 
 He is the first man in the country to be found guilty of intentionally setting out to spread the virus. 
 
 His crimes were branded a "determined hateful campaign of sly violence". 
 
 After being diagnosed in April 2015, Rowe met men on the gay dating app Grindr and had sex with eight of them in Brighton between October that year and February 2016, before fleeing to the north east where he went on the run from police, targeting two more men. 
 
 He sent mocking messages after sex with some of the men, including "I have HIV LOL. Oops" and "I'm riddled". 
 
 Image copyright PA Image caption Darryll Rowe was branded as a "sociopath" by one victim 
 
 Sentencing Rowe at Brighton Crown Court, Judge Christine Henson QC said: "The messages you sent make it crystal clear you knew exactly what you were doing. 
 
 "As well as the physical offences it is clear for the victims the psychological effects are immense. 
 
 "They describe living with a life sentence as a result of your cruel and senseless acts. Many of those men were young men in their 20s at the time they had the misfortune to meet you. 
 
 "I cannot see how and when you will no longer be a danger to gay men." 
 
 She added: "I note that this sentence is not about stigmatising anyone living with HIV." 
 
 Rowe, from Brighton, was convicted of five counts of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and five of attempted GBH. 
 
 During his six-week trial, one man said he felt "pressured" into having sex with the hairdresser. 
 
 Another victim branded Rowe as "grotesque" and a "sociopath". 
 
 Ahead of sentencing, prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC read out statements from nine of his 10 victims, which she said showed the "devastating consequences" of his actions. 
 
 'Horrendous chapter' 
 
 Many told how they had considered suicide having suffered physical and psychological damage and needed to take daily medication. 
 
 One said: "Darryl has destroyed my life. I would rather he had murdered me than left me to live my life like this." 
 
 Another said he found condoms with the tops cut off in the bin, and that it had been "a horrendous chapter" in his life. 
 
 A Tyneside man who was in a relationship with Rowe while he was on bail, but was not infected, told BBC Look North: "If you have a dog, and that dog has rabies, and it bites someone, you'd put it down 
 
 "That is exactly how I think about him now. 
 
 "I think he doesn't deserve to be paid for by the taxpayer for the rest of his life." 
 
 Describing his behaviour as "predatory", Judge Henson said Rowe had "emotionally unstable personality traits" but there was insufficient evidence to diagnose a personality disorder. 
 
 Det Insp Andy Wolstenholme, of Sussex Police, said the sentence was "hugely important for Rowe's victims, and the communities that he deliberately targeted". 
 
 "Daryll Rowe was consistent in lying to his victims about having HIV, he was persistent and aggressive in wanting unprotected sex in order to infect people, and when he didn't get what he wanted, he deliberately damaged condoms to achieve his aim," he said.
– For the first time in the UK, a man has been found guilty of intentionally infecting others with HIV. Daryll Rowe, 27, was sentenced Wednesday to life behind bars with a minimum term of 12 years for infecting five men via unprotected sex and trying to infect five others by damaging condoms, the BBC reports. Rowe was diagnosed with the virus in April 2015, and then embarked upon what the judge called a "determined hateful campaign of sly violence," meeting men on gay dating app Grindr for sex. After they slept together, he would send them messages like "I have HIV LOL. Oops." After having sex with eight men between October 2015 and February 2016, Rowe went on the run from police and had sex with two more men. He lied, telling the men he did not have the virus, but pressured them for unprotected sex or tampered with condoms if they refused, the Guardian reports. "Many of those men were young men in their 20s at the time they had the misfortune to meet you," the judge said. "They describe living with a life sentence as a result of your cruel and senseless acts. ... I cannot see how and when you will no longer be a danger to gay men." Some of Rowe's victims testified to having considered suicide after finding out they had been infected; one said he would have rather Rowe "murdered" him.