Defendants urged to plead
‘not guilty’ in cases of reckless HIV transmission
HIV
positive people facing prosecution for reckless transmission of HIV being
are urged not to plead guilty when they go to court.
UKC chair Bernard Forbes issued the warning after the 12th UK conviction for
recklessly transmitting the virus.
In January, a 35 year old Zimbabwean man was sentenced to three and a half
years in prison, at Bournemouth Crown Court, after pleading guilty to reckless
transmission of HIV and passing on the virus to his 25 year old ex-girlfriend.
Judge Roger Jarvis said the defendant was “beyond comprehension”
and should be deported after serving his sentence.
Forbes said his advice was in no way a justification for reckless transmission
but intended to put the onus on the prosecution to prove their case.
“In the ten cases in England and Wales where an HIV GBH conviction has
been successful, the prosecution has not had to prove transmission but has
relied on a guilty plea,” he said.
“And in one case where the defendant pleaded not guilty, the prosecution
tried to use genetic evidence but the defendant was found not guilty.
“Defendants in such cases are put under incredible pressure to plead
guilty,” Forbes said.
“And there is further pressure from the defence counsel because a guilty
plea supposedly leads to a reduction in sentence,” he added.
The UKC chair, himself a retired Metropolitan police officer, made his comments
following media speculation that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will
now crackdown on HIV positive people and step up prosecutions for passing
on other sexual diseases.
“This conviction sends out a message to people with HIV that these matters
are taken seriously,” the Bournemouth CPS office told the Dorset Echo
newspaper.
“Failing to act responsibly for other people’s well-being, and
not telling them when they are at risk, is a criminal offence and they will
be prosecuted,” it added.
Charity groups around the country say prosecutions against people with HIV
stigmatise and discriminate against already vulnerable and marginalised people.
“We’re not here to moralise but to support all people with HIV,”
said Barbara Heffernan, chair of Body Positive Dorset.
“People living with HIV need to be supported to test for HIV and to
disclose their status, not to be treated as criminals," said Rhon Reynolds,
of the African HIV Policy Network.
The Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) said the threat of prosecutions might drive
vulnerable people away from seeking medical advice.
THT’s Lisa Power warned that people with HIV were becoming increasingly
concerned that what they said in confidence to their doctor could later be
used against them in court.
Yusef Azad, of National Aids Trust, said: “Sending people to prison
doesn’t help anyone.”
“We need to make it clear to defence solicitors in such cases that it
will be very unwise for clients to be advised to plead guilty in advance of
testing the evidence.”
As Positive Nation went to press another man was convicted for HIV transmission
in Scotland.
Thirty eight-year-old Italian chef Giovanni Mola was found guilty at Glasgow
High Court on 7 February of knowingly infecting his former partner with both
HIV and hepatitis C at a flat in Edinburgh.
He will be sentenced on 7 March.
Ministers slammed over asylum policies
The UK government’s heavy handed policies towards HIV positive
asylum seekers came under fire again this month.
The Scottish Sunday Herald accused the Home Office immigration service, of
“luring entire families of refugees in Scotland to immigration offices
and then detaining them”.
This system has been introduced as an alternative to dawn raids, the paper
says.
Families about to be deported are now being transferred to holding centres
in England where, it is believed, they are “out of sight and out of
mind”.
Further criticism was levelled at the government by UN and international human
rights organisations for its willingness to imprison children of asylum seekers.
Peter Kessler, of the UN Refugee Agency, said: “Children seeking asylum
should not be kept in detention. The Convention on the Rights of the Child
states that children should only be detained as a last resort.”
In response to pressure from National Aids Trust (NAT) and others, the Home
Office has already modified its policy on dispersing asylum seekers with HIV.
NAT has published guidance for health care workers and the voluntary sector
explaining that asylum seekers with HIV should only be dispersed if medically
stable.
Meanwhile, in Sheffield and Leeds, unofficial estimates suggest some 5,500
refugees have been reduced to destitution.
A report in the Yorkshire Post raised serious concerns about rough sleeping,
poor diets, worsening mental illness and contagious diseases, including TB,
caused by overcrowding.
Anna Reisenberger, of the Refugee Council, said: “It is cruel to deny
people like these medical treatment. We have known of asylum-seekers in effect
left to die of cancer and kidney disease, and mothers giving birth without
medical support.”
l NAT’s guide on the dispersal of HIV positive asylum seekers can be
downloaded from: www.nat.org.uk/page/3857
Pos
speakers prove a big hit at Parliament
Four HIV positive speakers wowed an audience of MPs, peers, employers and
trade unionists at Portcullis House on 6 February.
The four spoke eloquently about their own struggles to overcome HIV stigma
and discrimination in the workplace at the launch of the Ensuring Positive
Futures (EPF) website.
Social worker Elizabeth Mwango, right, spoke of her battle to become accepted
in her community.
Haydn Forde, second right, spoke about the problems of disclosing his status
while on tour as an actor.
Anita Hickmore, third right, said she got most support after her HIV diagnosis
from the internet, “and from the excellent publication Positive Nation”.
Banker Anthony Davison, right, told of his battle to educate his own employers
how to treat HIV positive workers.
“HIV is a condition and not a perversity,” Anthony said: “The
EPF website empowers employers and employees alike.”
• www.e-pf.org.uk
Positive East arsonist gets three years
A man who set fire to an HIV charity building has been jailed for three years.
Keir Whitaker, 33, a service user at London HIV charity Positive East, was
convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court in December after admitting arson.
The fire in June 2006, destroyed much of the building causing tens of thousands
of pounds of damage.
But Positive East managed to continue providing services elsewhere.
The court heard that Whitaker had been imprisoned twice before for arson and
had been receiving counselling at the charity.
On 9 June last year he broke into the building, in Mildmay Road, Ilford, after
taking alcohol and drugs and set fire to curtains using a cigarette lighter.
He handed himself in to Ilford police six weeks later.
In an unusual move, Judge Inigo Bing said he deserved the “thanks of
the public” for giving himself up to police.
Positive East director Mark Santos said the charity was pleased no one was
injured.
“This was a tragedy on all levels and clearly not the actions of a well
man,” Santos said.
“The building is under repair and we are thinking about re-opening it.
But the people of Redbridge have not lost out on our services, we are just
providing them in a different way.”
news on the side
Sun gets it wrong
The Sun newspaper was forced to publish a correction after alleging Eastern
European immigrants would increase HIV infections in the UK and for confusing
HIV and Aids. The paper published the correction on 27 December after complaints
from National Aids Trust, who said: “We will continue to actively challenge
stigmatising coverage such as this.”
Home test plea
The 1992 ban on home testing kits should now be lifted, according to Lucy
Frith of Liverpool University, writing in The Lancet. She said the ban was
outdated and compulsory pre-test counselling was deterring those who might
otherwise come forward. Around a third of those with HIV in the UK don't know
their status. At the moment written consent is compulsory for all HIV tests
in the UK.
Patients veto
Concerns that confidential medical records on the NHS database may be illegally
used by insurance companies and police have caused widespread concern. As
a result, the government has now agreed that patients should be allowed to
veto the transfer of their health records onto the new NHS computer system.
See page 26 for more.
Social care ‘failing’
Elderly and disabled people are increasingly relying on friends and family
for care, says the Commission for Social Care.
The proportion of the UK population over 65, is set to grow over the next
20 years to over 53 per cent of the population. With budgets for social care
increasingly stretched, two-thirds of local councils say they are now only
able to offer support to those with 'substantial needs'. Most councils have
already closed down or ‘mainstreamed’ social service support for
people living with HIV.
Praise for Scots
A decline in new HIV infections among drug users in the Scottish capital was
praised by city council leaders.
“The introduction of needle exchange schemes, the co-ordination of policy
through the regional council's Aids co-ordinator and the quick reaction of
the support services have led to a situation where new infections amongst
intravenous drug users have dropped to a very small number,” councillor
Ewan Aitken told BBC News.
HIV taboo risk
Experts fear hitherto low HIV infection rates in the Asian community are misleading,
resulting from low testing rates and widespread stigma. Leicestershire Aids
Support Services is concerned that vast sections of the two million UK Asian
population are not even seeking medical care around sexual health.
“Asians don’t use our services much,” Dr Joyce Dhar told
BBC News: “They say, ‘Why should we use the health service when
we aren’t at risk?’ They see HIV as a disease of whites and gays.”
Fall in poz babies
Healthy births to HIV positive mothers in Britain are increasing according
to latest data from the Royal School of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
With testing for mother to child transmission of the virus now running at
over 90 per cent across the country, and effective antiretroviral therapy
and elective caesarean section, the numbers of positive babies has fallen
steadily. In 2006, only six babies were born with HIV in Britain and Ireland
out of nearly 800 pregnancies reported among HIV positive mothers.
Thai generics approved
Thailand's health minister has announced that a licence has been granted to
produce a generic version of popular HIV drug Kaletra.
World Trade Organisation rules allow countries to issue a compulsory license
to produce or sell generic versions of patented drugs if they declare a national
emergency. Over half a million Thais are living with HIV
‘HIV camp’ call
Emmanuel Ayensu, district chief executive of Wassa district in Ghana, has
infuriated HIV positive people across the world by proposing the setting up
of camps for people infected. According to Ayensu, isolating people living
with HIV is one sure way of checking its spread. “If we cannot kill
them,” he said, “then why not build isolation camps for them?”
HIV campaigners across the world have called for the official to be fired
and highlighted the necessity of improved HIV education.
President’s HIV gaff
The claim by Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh that he can cure HIV with
herbs has been greeted with incredulity. “I can treat asthma and HIV…
Within three days the person should be tested again and I can tell you that
he/she will be negative,” Jammeh claimed to foreign diplomats last month.
“I am not a witch doctor,” he added.
HIV hits 2010 world cup
South Africa's New Civil Engineer magazine has highlighted a growing problem
facing construction firms preparing stadiums and facilities at nine separate
sites in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Required by law to employ local
workers, firms are finding the high rates of HIV among students threaten to
stifle the industry, just as it is set to boom. Around 5.5 million South Africans,
one in 11 of the population, are HIV positive.
