(Newser) – Sympathy is likely to be in short supply for Richard Thomas as he waits to find out whether he caught HIV from the woman he raped. The British man was sentenced to five years for the crime yesterday and the court was told that he will find out whether he has the virus later this week, the BBC reports. Thomas let himself into the woman's house in the middle of the night and she awoke to find him raping her, the court heard. Thomas says he had been drinking and taking drugs, and doesn't remember the attack.

Thomas knew the victim and knew she had another illness but was unaware she had HIV, and the Daily Mail reports that he collapsed and asked to be taken to the hospital when police informed him that he could be infected. "It is his own fault," his own lawyer told the court. "If he had not committed this offense he would not have placed himself in this position." (Read more rape stories.)

