A British man has been found guilty of rape and causing grievous bodily harm after he had unprotected sex with multiple men while knowing he was infectious with HIV.
A jury found Adam Hall, from the UK town of Washington, guilty of multiple counts of rape and grievous bodily harm after a long trial that started late in 2025.
The court heard that the 43‑year‑old man targeted men he met in bars in Newcastle and had unprotected sex with them without telling them of his HIV status. Hall had not been taking the medication prescribed to him that would have kept the level of HIV in his body at a non‑infectious level.
Hall was diagnosed with HIV in 2010, but by 2016 medical professionals had become concerned that he was not taking his medication.
Prosecutors said Hall had not told any of his sexual partners of his HIV status, and several of the interactions he had were against his victims’ will.
None of his victims have been named for legal reasons, but one was aged just fifteen, while the others were in their late teens and early twenties.
During the court case, his lawyers argued that HIV was no longer a disease that presented a serious risk of death due to improvements in medication, and as such their client’s actions could not be considered serious harm.
The jury disagreed and delivered guilty verdicts after just under 43 hours of deliberation. The case had run for 97 days since it began in November 2025.
Speaking outside court after the verdicts were announced, Detective Chief Inspector Emma Smith, from Northumbria Police, said Hall was a “callous, calculating sexual predator”.
“He has shown absolutely no remorse for the extensive suffering and distress he has caused,” she said, her comments reported by the BBC.
Police said they believed there were more men Hall had sexual contact with who had not been identified, as well as evidence he travelled to areas including County Durham, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Manchester and London.
“We would encourage anyone who may have health concerns to seek advice and support from their local sexual health services,” Smith said.
Amy Dixon of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “From the point of his initial HIV diagnosis, Adam Hall was wholly aware of the risks to himself and others if he failed to adhere to his medical treatment. Despite this, he repeatedly pursued sexual activity with his victims without disclosing his HIV status.
“In some cases, Hall performed these sexual acts without the consent of the victims, applying verbal or physical force to get what he wanted. Hall provided one of his victims with the illegal drug GHB (gamma‑hydroxybutyrate), and there were times when he would black out and awake to Hall raping him.
“It is clear from his actions that Hall knew what he was doing and fully intended to cause the harmful lifelong consequences that his victims now face. We would like to praise the bravery of these men in coming forward to provide evidence, and we hope that the conviction of Hall today provides some measure of justice for each of them.”
In total, Hall was found guilty of five counts of rape, seven counts of causing grievous bodily harm, one count of controlling/coercive behaviour, one count of supplying a Class B drug (GHB), and one count of failing to provide a passcode for his mobile phone.
Judge Edward Bindloss adjourned the hearing until April, when he will hand down his sentence. Hall has been remanded in custody.
