A Gold Coast acrobat who was sentenced to more than nine years' jail for intentionally infecting his partner with HIV has had his conviction overturned in the High Court.

Key points: Zaburoni to be re-sentenced on lesser charge of grievous bodily harm

Zaburoni to be re-sentenced on lesser charge of grievous bodily harm High Court quashes conviction of intending to spread HIV

High Court quashes conviction of intending to spread HIV Zaburoni lied to his ex-partner and had regular unprotected sex

Godfrey Zaburoni, originally from Zimbabwe, had regular unprotected sex with his ex-girlfriend of two years and lied to her about his medical history.

While he admitted to infecting her, he argued he did not do so deliberately and was ignorant about how the virus was transmitted.

The High Court ruled on Wednesday that other than the fact Zaburoni engaged in frequent unprotected sex, the jury in his 2013 trial could not infer from the evidence that he intended to give her HIV.

The court found foresight that a result was possible or even certain was not a substitute for proof of specific intent.

"[There was not enough proof to safely exclude the hypothesis] that the appellant engaged in that sexual intercourse with the complainant not with an intention to transmit the disease ... but selfishly for his own gratification, being reckless as to whether or not the complainant might become infected," Judge Stephen Gageler said.

Zaburoni was diagnosed in 1998 when performing with a touring circus in Adelaide.

Sorry, this video has expired Godfrey Zaburoni, a circus acrobat, appeared in the TV show Australia's Got Talent

Although the High Court judgement said Zaburoni was repeatedly warned by doctors not to have unprotected sex, during a 2010 police interview he said he did not know much about the disease and was not told the need to inform sexual partners.

In 2013, Zaburoni pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm but the Queensland District Court convicted him of the more serious offence of intentionally transmitting a serious disease.

The High Court on Wednesday quashed the conviction and substituted a verdict of grievous bodily harm.

Zaburoni, who appeared on the television show Australia's Got Talent, will be re-sentenced in the District Court in Brisbane.

He is likely to be deported to Zimbabwe when his sentence ends.

'Zaburoni hasn't got away with it'

Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts said intention involved a motive and a desire to cause harm, while recklessness may be negligence of a very high order or simply acting without care.

"Even though he knew that he had HIV and lied about it both to his partners and to the police, they still found that there was not intent," Mr Potts said.

"People might think he's got away with it, he hasn't.

"The High Court has sent him back to the court be sentenced, this time for grievous bodily harm."

Court cases 'deter' people from seeking help

An advocacy group for people living with HIV said criminal law was an ineffective way of dealing with HIV non-disclosure or transmission.

President of Queensland Positive People, Mark Counter, said about 1,500 Queenslanders might be infected with HIV, but had not yet been diagnosed.

He feared criminal cases would deter people from getting tested.

"What we're really trying to do is to get those people to come forward and it doesn't help when criminal cases like this scare people," he said.

"The goal of the public health system and programs like ours is to try and get those people to come out and get tested.

"If you're diagnosed with HIV, it's one pill a day. That pill will give you a normal life span and it will make you technically uninfectious for HIV."

The Australian Medical Association declined to comment on the Zaburoni case, but stressed the importance of safe sex.

"We accept that at some point that may change, but clearly that needs to be preceded with an open and honest and frank conservation," AMA Queensland president Dr Chris Zappala said.

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