HIV case 'a lesson for sufferers'

Anne Craig said Kelly deliberately infected her

A woman whose ex-boyfriend was convicted of knowingly infecting her with HIV said his jail term should serve as a warning to those with the disease.

Anne Craig, contracted HIV from Stephen Kelly, 33, who was jailed for five years for infecting her in what was a landmark judgement.

Ms Craig, 34, said Kelly had set out with the clear intention of infecting her and sought to use the disease as a "weapon" with which he could trap her in a relationship.

If a person is HIV positive, their responsibility is to offer safe sex, not to reveal their status, but to simply offer safe sex

Anne Craig

Academics have now warned that some people could be put off taking HIV tests if they know a positive diagnosis could leave them open to future prosecution.

However, Ms Craig said Kelly's conviction at the High Court in Glasgow should send out a message to infected people who seek to hide their HIV status and indulge in unprotected sex.

Ms Craig said people with HIV have a responsibility to at least offer safe sex.

She told the BBC: "The only people it can put off coming forward (for testing) are people who would probably intend not to disclose their status or even offer safe sex.

"If a person is HIV positive, their responsibility is to offer safe sex, not to reveal their status, but to simply offer safe sex with whoever they want to have sex with; that way they should be safe from prosecution."

The mother-of-three said Kelly had sought to manipulate her into staying in their relationship and the disease was the device used.

Stephen Kelly: Sought to "manipulate"

She said: "I met Stephen and thought we were very much in love. Unfortunately it was a one-sided thing and Stephen's only intention was to manipulate and control.

"And unfortunately the weapon he used was HIV."

Ms Craig said, that after discussions with her counsellors, she had begun to see the disease as a "controlling factor" which Kelly could use to sustain their relationship.

"If I was HIV then nobody else would want to be with me, therefore I would have to be with him, otherwise I would die alone, which is the type of thing that Stephen would tell me," said Ms Craig.

Disease stigma

"There's no doubt in my mind at all that he went out of his way to deliberately infect me, which is why the prosecution took place.

"It wasn't just a case of, 'we slept together and I accidentally caught HIV', which appears to be what most people seem to think, but that's not the case at all."

Ms Craig said she went through with the court case to prevent other people doing what Kelly had done.

The discovery that she was HIV positive left her "devastated" and she said she has had to cope with the "stigma" of the disease, even among health workers.

She said: "People just assume that because you are HIV you must have caught it through using drugs or being promiscuous.

"It is a stigma that needs lifting because there are a lot of men and women who are the victim of a crime like I was and these issues are not being addressed."