Compiled
and edited
by Martin Flynn
The doctors suggest that Scottish law is now a potential public health
risk and the level of HIV testing would decrease because individuals could
become criminals if they are HIV positive and then infect someone else.
The furore follows the historic case in Glasgow High Court last February
when 33-year-old Stephen Kelly was convicted and jailed for five years
for "culpably and recklessly" having unprotected sex with his
former girlfriend Anna Whitaker knowing he was HIV positive.
The authors of the BMJ report, Dr Sheila Bird and Professor Andrew Leigh
Brown, say that the jailing of Kelly "is a harsh sentence by international
standards" and could now lead to an increase in HIV infections in
Scotland as it has "criminalised undeclared, but not untested, HIV
transmission."
They said that far from protecting the public, the Kelly case "has
abrogated individual responsibility in sexual partnerships by asserting
a legal duty of disclosure on the infected partner."
The judgement leaves doubt about which behaviours are criminal, Bird and
Leigh Brown say, and they ask: "Is it a crime for someone who conceals
their infection to have unprotected intercourse if HIV transmission does
not occur?"
page 6 of 8
contents
of issue 75
back
issues
the
gazette
recipes
small
ads
contacting
us
weblinks
