Scottish sexual HIV/HCV transmission trial ends with guilty verdict

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A Glasgow High Court today found Italian national, Giovanni Mola, guilty of ‘reckless’ injury for sexually transmitting HIV and hepatitis C to a former girlfriend. It is the first time that anyone has been successfully prosecuted for the sexual transmission of hepatitis C, and the second successful Scottish prosecution for the sexual transmission of HIV.

Mr Mola, 38, was originally charged with “culpable and reckless conduct” in 2005. It was alleged that Mr Mola knew or believed that he had HIV and hepatitis C; that he knew or believed it could be transmitted through vaginal and oral sexual intercourse; that he did not disclose his infection to his former girlfriend – known as ‘Miss X’ – and repeatedly refused to wear a condom when they had sexual intercourse; that HIV and hepatitis C were transmitted as a result; and that this was to the permanent impairment of ‘Miss X’ and endangered her life and health.

During the trial Mr Mola admitted all but one of the charges. However, he denied repeatedly refusing to wear a condom. Thus, the outcome of the trial hinged on the credibility of Mr Mola and his former girlfriend. BBC online reported that whilst the former testified that he always used condoms during vaginal sex with ‘Miss X’ between September 2003 and February 2004, ‘Miss X’ testified that he “aggressively” refused to wear condoms.

Glossary

oral

Refers to the mouth, for example a medicine taken by mouth.

oral sex

Kissing, licking or sucking another person's genitals, i.e. fellatio, cunnilingus, a blow job, giving head.

referral

A healthcare professional’s recommendation that a person sees another medical specialist or service.

phylogenetic analysis

The comparison of the genetic sequence of the virus in different individuals in order to determine the likelihood that two or more samples are related. This involves creating a hypothetical diagram (known as a phylogenetic tree) that estimates how closely related the samples of HIV taken from different individuals are. Phylogenetic analysis is not a reliable way to prove that one individual has infected another, but may identify transmission clusters, which can be useful for public health interventions.

However, BBC online also reported that ‘Miss X’ told the court that she had been a virgin before she met Mr Mola. Mr Mola’s defence lawyer, however, referred to evidence from Miss X’s sexual health clinic records that allegedly conflicted with her account.

The news reports make little mention of the scientific evidence presented in this case. However, since last August there is now an English and Welsh legal precedent showing the unreliability of phylogenetic analysis to conclusively prove that one person directly transmitted a virus to another.

It is also thought that there is an extremely low risk of heterosexual transmission of hepatitis C through unprotected vaginal and oral sex, even when exposed to someone who is coinfected with HIV.

Mr Mola’s conviction follows that of Stephen Kelly, who was the first person in Scotland – and in the UK – to be successfully prosecuted for the ‘reckless’ sexual transmission of HIV.

The first successful prosecution for ‘reckless’ sexual HIV transmission in England & Wales took place two years later, and there have been a further ten prosecutions, nine of which were successful. The most recent took place last month in Bournemouth.

Mr Mola is due to be sentenced on March 7th.