HIV accused cleared of one charge

A Teesside man accused of deliberately infecting four women with HIV through unprotected sex has been cleared of one charge on the directions of a judge.

But Feston Konzani, 28, from Middlesbrough, continues to be tried on charges of infecting three other women.

The charges relate to women aged between 15 and 27 in the Middlesbrough area between November 2000 and August 2003.

Mr Konzani has denied charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Teesside Crown Court has heard how Konzani, from Malawi, came to Britain in 1998 with the help of a British diplomat with whom he had been having a gay relationship.

Mr Konzani was diagnosed with the condition after one girlfriend who became pregnant by him discovered she had it and made him have tests.

Judge Peter Fox QC made an order under the Contempt of Court Act to protect the identity of all the women involved.

The jury is expected to be sent out on Friday to consider their verdicts.