One of the women who put Mohammed Dica behind bars tells her side of the story in an exclusive interview with Martin Flynn
Last November, Mohammed Dica was sentenced by the Inner London Crown Court to eight years in prison after being found guilty on two counts of ‘biological’ grievous bodily harm for deliberately infecting two women with HIV.
 Photo: Getty Images (posed by model) |
Deborah, aged thirty-eight and a mother of two, was one of the two women infected with HIV by Mohammed Dica. She agreed to tell PN her side of the story but would not be photographed (it’s a model’s face you see here and on the cover).
Deborah made the mistake of falling in love with a man who claimed he was a war veteran and a lawyer. He promised to marry her, but it turned out he was a liar who already had a wife and three children and lived on benefits in a Mitcham council flat.
After starting a relationship with Dica, Deborah broke up with her long-term partner and just a few months later she also contracted HIV.
When she became ill, Dica disappeared but Deborah tracked him down and made sure he was prosecuted in the first case of its kind in England.
“I was born and raised in South London and I’m from a large mixed race family,” Deborah explains: “I have two children, aged 11 and five.
“I met Dica in December 2000 in a Croydon nightclub. He seemed a very nice man, very friendly and very charming. We went out several times and had a relationship for about three months. We were dating, not living together. We’d meet socially in friends’ houses or go out for a drink. Sometimes we went to hotels. I didn’t know his address. I used to pick him up outside a block of flats in Mitcham. He said we couldn’t go to his house because he lived with his sister who was a Muslim and she wouldn’t accept me. I later found out he didn’t even live there.”
Did he mention HIV? Did you use protection?
“We used condoms on the first couple of times we had sex but he said he didn’t like to use them. I was in love with this man. I would have done anything for him. He never talked about HIV at all.
“By April 2001, I’d left my marital home and was staying with family. I fell ill with flu symptoms and had a rash over my body. I couldn’t eat and was very weak. I went to my GP with herpes and he suggested I take iron tablets to build me up.
“I was still ill two weeks later so I went to a GUM clinic. They offered me an HIV test, which first of all came back negative. Then they did another test, which came back positive. I think the HIV was going into my system and the antibodies did not show up in the first test.”
Before you met Dica, had you been involved with a lot of other men?
“No, I’d been with my one partner for over 18 years and he was my first boyfriend.”
Did you confront Dica?
“He just disappeared. His mobile phone was switched off and I couldn’t get hold of him.
"I was confused. This man said he wanted to marry me and have children with me.
"Months later I met a friend of his and asked if he had any news. He told me Mohammed was in hospital.
“So I rang round the local hospitals and tracked him down. I also went to the local library and searched the electoral roll. I picked 10 roads around the block of flats where he said he lived and looked for the name Dica. I found his real address that way.
“When I found him in the hospital, someone else was with him. I didn’t disclose my HIV status. He told me his mother had died and he had to go back to Somalia.
“I went back to the hospital the next day. He said the doctors told him they didn’t know what was wrong with him. I then told him I’d just been diagnosed with HIV. He held his head in his hands and said: ‘It can’t be. I don’t believe it.’ He then said: ‘I’ll get my doctors to test me.’
“I just ran away and a week or ten days later he came out of hospital and we met up. He said he’d just had his results back and said he was HIV positive.
“I hadn’t told anyone about my positive status at that time - not even my family or children.”
Did you feel any anger towards Dica at that time?
“No, I loved him and wanted to be with him. I didn’t feel: ‘You’ve infected me and I hate you.’ I thought we’d both just been diagnosed. But he didn’t want to talk about it.”
When did you realise that something wasn’t quite right?
“I didn’t realise until much later when I saw a friend of his at the GUM clinic. I said: ‘It’s very sad that Mohammed’s been away because his mother’s died.’ And he said: ‘His mother’s not dead, she’s fine.’
 Mohammed Dica, a 37-year-old Somalian, was sentenced to eight years in prison last November after being found guilty on two counts of ‘biological’ grievous bodily harm for infecting two women with HIV. photo: ©ed willcox/central news press agency |
“I said nothing then. Later, I asked Dica: ‘When will I meet your family?’ but all he said was: ‘Soon, soon.’ After a while I went back to his friend with a tape recorder in my bag. I didn’t know who to believe or trust. When I told his friend that I was HIV positive, he replied: ‘That’s funny. I can’t believe it. The girlfriend before you said she was HIV positive as well and he said it wasn’t him.’ I asked his friend: ‘Did his mother die?’ and he replied: ‘No, his mother didn’t die.’
“Earlier on, Dica had showed me the scar from a bullet wound on his chest and said he got it serving in the Gulf War.
“I asked his friend if it was true that Mohammed had served in the Gulf War. ‘No,’ he replied.
“I asked: ‘Does he live with his sister?’ ‘No, he lives with his wife.’
“I asked: ‘Does he work as a lawyer?’ ‘No, he doesn’t,’ came the reply.
“This man put himself across as someone really intelligent and someone who said he was going to change my life. Someone who was very educated and spoke several languages. I thought he was someone I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. Then after speaking to his friend I got the truth on tape and within an hour I went to the police station.”
What made you go to the police?
“It wasn’t anger. I was looking for help. This man had not just infected me but also the girlfriend before me. I found out that everything he’d said to me was a lie. I felt it was a very cruel thing to do.”
Did you appear in court as a witness?
“It took a very long time. I’d given the police Dica’s address and details of his friend. Dica was then arrested and charged with GBH. His bail conditions were that he was on a curfew and couldn’t go out without his wife.
“The police later arrested Dica again for interfering with witnesses and he was remanded in custody.”
Did the court case centre around you?
“Just me and the other lady he’d infected. I’d never met her. She gave her evidence on a different day. I waited two years to have my day in court and all the pain that I had was put out that day. It was very traumatic and emotional. I thought ‘You’ve played with my life and you thought you’ve got away with it.’
“My last words to Dica a year and a half before the court case were ‘You’ll see what I’ll do.’”
Was it a case of ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’?
“It wasn’t revenge. I gave my whole life up for this man. I fell in love with him. And every single thing he said to me was a lie. I couldn’t accept that he knew for eight years before that he was HIV positive and all that came out in court.”
Were they able to prove that the HIV you had was from Dica?
“Yes, they did DNA sequencing of my blood and found out the virus I had was from him. Professors and scientists were flown in from Finland and Scotland. And it was a similar situation for the other lady: that the HIV she had was definitely from Mohammed Dica as well.
“After he was sentenced I found out that he may well have infected a whole number of other people, both men and women.
“He knew what he was doing. He played a game with my life and he had no intention of telling me the truth.”
Do you feel you’ve done the right thing?
“I know I’ve done the right thing. Now I can move on and put it behind me. But it’ll never go away. He’s given me this virus for life and I feel he’s in me and I’ll never escape.”
Did Dica’s defence lawyers paint you as a scarlet woman?
“No, they had nothing on me. I’m a housewife. I was with the same man before Dica for nearly 20 years. I haven’t had lots of boyfriends or gone out a lot and my children are fine.”
How do you feel now?
“I feel some relief. I wouldn’t say I was happy. I’ve waited two years for this. I did get some closure but I don’t feel: ‘Hooray, I’ve got my revenge.’ I feel saddened that it had to come to this to stop him.”
What were your motivations for pursuing this so relentlessly?
“I was never going to let this go and let that man get away with what he did to me. It was not just for me but for other people as well. I thought if he’s done this he needs to be stopped.”
How do you feel about Dica now he’s in prison?
“Hopefully he can’t infect anyone else now with his HIV or his cruelty. But I do feel sorry for his wife and children.
“Now it’s over maybe I can concentrate a little more on me. I’ve gone back to work but it will take time to get back into a normal routine...The HIV is always going to be there inside me.
“There may be other men or even women who are doing this like Dica and maybe this case will enlighten them and make them realise that they can be prosecuted and sent to prison. They’re not going to get away with it. It’s like putting a bullet to someone’s head.
“And HIV is everyone’s responsibility, be they black or white, women or men, straight or gay.”
