Police warn that 'callous' rapist jailed for life after deliberately giving men HIV may have infected more victims

A man jailed for multiple rapes and deliberately infecting men with HIV may have more victims, police have warned.

Adam Hall, 43, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 23 years, at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, where he was convicted in March of raping four men and intentionally passing on the virus to three more.

Hall hid his HIV status from partners, failed to take medication to keep his viral load low, then had unprotected sex with men, sometimes raping them.

He was convicted of five counts of rape and seven counts of causing grievous bodily harm - by deliberately infecting younger partners with HIV after meeting them in bars in the Newcastle area or on the Grindr dating app.

Some of Hall's victims were aged in their 20s but the youngest was just 15, with the schoolboy finding out he had contracted the virus in a phone call from health professionals moments after he stepped off a school bus.

Two of the other victims were aged 17 and 18.

After a four-month trial, Hall became only the second person in the country to be convicted of deliberately infecting other people with HIV.

He denied the charges, even claiming that some of his victims wanted to be infected with HIV.

Officers believe he has also had sexual contact with a number of other men who are yet to be identified. He travelled to County Durham, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Manchester, and London.

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Outside court, senior prosecutor Amy Dixon said: "When we looked at all of that surrounding evidence in relation to his sexual activity with the victim-survivors, it was clear that he'd intended to pass on this virus.

"He hadn't just been reckless."

Detective Chief Inspector Emma Smith of Northumbria Police said: "We do believe that there are other men who may have been impacted by Adam Hall's behaviour and could be a victim of crime and we would encourage them to come forward."

She added: "He's never apologised for his behaviour and we've interviewed him on a number of occasions."

Ms Smith said the criminal case was "complex" and involved 35,000 hours of officers' time, including 450 statements and 37 witnesses who gave evidence.

The case was further complicated by the difficulty of some of the medical evidence that was used to show the strain of HIV that victims contracted was consistent with Hall's, and it involved exploring the victims' sexual history with other partners.

In a statement, one of Hall's victims said: "No one ever betrayed me the way Hall did. The first time Hall raped me I blamed myself.

"Hall left me a broken man, just a shell of who I was, he stripped me down for his own gain. 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."

Police have described him as a "callous and calculating sexual predator" who had shown "absolutely no remorse for the extensive suffering and distress he has caused".

Hall was known on the Newcastle gay and chem sex scene, worked in bars and at a Tyneside sex shop, and had even attempted to set up a charity for people with HIV.

He was diagnosed with HIV in 2010 and could have kept his viral load low with modern treatments.

But in 2016, medical professionals became concerned he was not adhering to his treatment, making him infectious to others he slept with.

Despite being warned, Hall had unprotected sex with men between 2016 and 2023, in some cases raping them.

Prosecutors were sure Hall intended to spread HIV, although he continued to deny it.

Hall was brought to court from prison where he was held on remand, but declined to leave his cell and was sentenced in his absence.

Judge Edward Bindloss deemed Hall "dangerous" before jailing him for life with a minimum term of 23 years and 42 days.

He said: "Refusal to attend today is entirely in keeping with the indifference you have shown to the suffering of others."

Of the victims, the judge said: "All were young men, all had their futures taken away, all deliberately because of you."

Hall was also jailed for drug dealing and failing to reveal his PIN to police.

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