British man Adam Hall, 43, has been given a life sentence with a minimum jail time of 23 years over his conviction on multiple counts of rape and grievous bodily harm.
Last month a jury found Hall, from the UK town of Washington, guilty 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.
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.
Hall was also sentenced for dealing drugs, some of which he had given to one of his victims before raping and infecting him. The judge ordered that he serve a life sentence and would not be eligible for parole until a minimum term of 23 years and 42 days had been served.
Hall was diagnosed with HIV in 2010, but by 2016 medical professionals had become concerned that he was not taking his medication.
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.
Ahead of sentencing several of the victims shared how the assault had affected their lives.
In a statement read to the court, one of the men, who was 18 when he was raped and infected by Hall, said he had been “violated in the most horrific and dehumanising way”. The attack had left him with long lasting trauma.
Other described Hall as a predator who had impacted their futures, and left them with significant health concerns.
Hall refused to attend his sentencing hearing and remained in his cell at the court house. Judge Edward Bindloss said Hall’s refusal to attend the sentencing hearing was “entirely in keeping with the indifference” the rapist had shown “to the suffering of others”.
Since the case has been featured in the media police have confirmed that more potential victims of Hall have come forward and there ate ongoing investigations into additional allegations.
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