HIV man told partner he 'should spread the virus' Published duration 4 September 2013

An HIV positive man accused of infecting women with the virus said he should spread the infection, his former partner claimed.

The man, who cannot be named, is on trial at Leicester Crown Court charged with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm between 2006 and 2010.

His ex-partner told jurors when she learned he was HIV positive after two years together he said he should spread the virus as he should not have it.

The defendant, 32, denies the charges.

The jury heard from the first witness in the case, a woman who met the defendant when she was 16 years old.

'Surprised and puzzled'

They started trying for a baby but he did not tell her he was HIV positive, she said.

She told the court that she only found out she was infected when medical staff told her.

"I was surprised and puzzled, I'd been with this man for two years and he'd never mentioned it," she said.

The couple had the baby but the child did not inherit the virus.

She added that the man did not seem surprised when she discovered she was HIV positive and later told her he felt he should not have the virus so he should spread it.

Under cross-examination she denied accusations that she had made up accounts of his violence or that she knew he was HIV positive.

Earlier in the hearing, the jury heard a second woman found out she was infected after an anonymous call from a sexual health clinic.

The trial continues.