Victims of Adam Hall, a man described as a 'monster' who deliberately infected sexual partners with HIV and raped some of them, have spoken out about the devastating impact of his crimes. One victim said, 'All I can say is it ruined me. In that moment my life as I knew it was gone.'
Life sentence for Hall
Hall, 43, of Donvale Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years on Thursday after being found guilty of deliberately infecting a string of sexual partners with HIV and raping some of his victims. He was convicted in March of seven counts of causing grievous bodily harm and five counts of rape following a three-and-a-half-month trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
The men and boys he preyed upon ranged in age from their late 20s down to just 15 years old. The court heard how he would meet them in bars in the Newcastle area or on the dating app Grindr, and had failed to disclose his HIV positive status to them. His victims did not know he had passed on the virus until they were tested.
Victim impact statements
One victim, who was just 15 when he was infected, described how he found out in a phone call from health professionals moments after stepping off a school bus. 'Everything shattered, everything went numb. I was mortified,' he said. 'I felt like I was sinking; it was really devastating. I was angry. I could not comprehend why someone could do this, to harm somebody. I just felt like I had my life stripped away.'
Another victim said he had been left a 'broken man' by Hall's actions. He described how he had been 'vulnerable' after recently ending a relationship when he met Hall. 'The first time Hall raped me, I blamed myself,' he said, adding the diagnosis of HIV had felt like a 'death sentence'. 'The first medication I took made my hair fall out. I switched medications, but the side effects continued.' He said day-to-day living with the virus was 'exhausting'.
A third victim said he felt 'so relieved' when Hall was convicted. 'I just broke down there and then. I had been believed. It was so important that the jury believed me. It felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders.'
Stigma and abuse
Others described the homophobic abuse and stigma they faced after their diagnosis. One said, 'I faced so much stigma at work, including homophobic comments. People I'd known for years calling me names, they all treated me differently because of the HIV.'
Health officials urge testing
Health officials are now urging people across the country who have had sex with Adam Hall to get themselves checked for HIV. Detectives say Hall travelled to meet men he met on Grindr across the North East, including County Durham and Middlesbrough, as well as North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Manchester and London.
Newcastle director of public health Professor Alice Wiseman urged people to access confidential health services. 'The sooner that anyone is diagnosed, the better the treatment is. We want to eliminate HIV in the long term; the way to do that is for those who are infected to receive treatment as soon as possible.'
Daniel Fluskey, director of policy at the National AIDS Trust, said: 'Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Hall's sentencing. The intention of transmitting HIV to any other person is completely condemned. It is important to recognise that HIV has changed considerably over recent years – the vast majority of people living with HIV are on medication, cannot pass the virus on, and expect a normal life expectancy.'
