“All I can say is it ruined me. In that moment my life as I knew it was gone.”
Those were the words of one victim as he described how a “dalliance” with Adam Hall had left him facing homophobic abuse at work after he contracted HIV, forcing him to “rewrite” his life.
Hall was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years on Thursday after he was found guilty of deliberately infecting a string of sexual partners with HIV and raping some of his victims.
The 43-year-old, of Donvale Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear, 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 the same court.
The men and boys he preyed upon were aged 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, and described the life-shattering consequences of Hall’s actions as they gave victim impact statements to the court.
One, who was aged just 15 when he was infected with HIV, described how he found out he had contracted the virus in a phone call from health professionals moments after he stepped off a school bus.
“I had just got off the school bus and was walking home, and my phone started ringing,” he said. “When I picked it up, it was the sexual health nurse. She explained my results had come back and I was HIV positive.
“Everything shattered, everything went numb. I was mortified, not only at the situation but at myself. You know, like how has this happened to me?
“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 said he had been left a “broken man” by the way Hall had treated him. He described how he had been “vulnerable” after recently ending a relationship when he met the 43-year-old.
“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”. “Hall left me a broken man, just a shell of who I was; he stripped me down for his own gain,” he continued. “I am a broken man. He changed me as a person, who I was to my core, and he did it all for his own gain.”
Another said he felt “so relieved” when Hall was convicted in March. “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. I felt so relieved.”
Others described the homophobic abuse and stigma they had been subject to since their diagnosis.
“When I was first diagnosed with HIV, I just couldn’t believe it. It was the last thing I ever expected, and I assumed it would never happen to me,” one said.
“All I can say is it ruined me. In that moment, my life as I knew it was gone.”
He added “everything started to change” for him after telling the management at his work of his diagnosis.
“I faced so much stigma at work, including homophobic comments,” he explained. “People I’d known for years calling me names, they all treated me differently because of the HIV.”
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 see men he met on the dating app 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 who have had sex with Hall to access confidential health services in their area.
She said: “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.
“The earlier you are diagnosed, the sooner you can have anti-retroviral therapy, and if you are consistent with your treatment, you can reduce your viral load so you are no longer infectious to those around you.”
Daniel Fluskey, director of policy, National AIDS Trust, said: “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Hall’s sentencing, first and foremost the people who are victims of Adam Hall’s crimes who have had deeply traumatic experiences.
“The intention of transmitting HIV to any other person is completely condemned, and this kind of prosecution is extremely rare.
“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.
“As this case is discussed, we hope it helps improve the understanding of HIV and does not reinforce fear, stigma or discrimination. HIV is now a manageable condition and no one should fear taking an HIV test and accessing treatment.”
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