A man convicted of infecting three women with HIV via unprotected sex has lost his appeal against his conviction and the length of his sentence.
The Court of Appeal in London rejected Mr Feston Konzani’s defence arguments that the conviction was unsafe because the jury was not asked to consider if he had a “guilty mind”, and because the judge in the initial trial gave restrictive directions on the issue of consent.
Mr Konzani, who lived on Teeside when the offences were committed, will now have to serve a sentence of ten years and will deported to Malawi when he is released from prison.
Rejecting the defence arguments, the appeal court judges said that Mr Konzani had “deceived” the three women and “there is not the slightest evidence, direct or indirect, from which a jury could begin to infer that the appellant honestly believed that any complainant consented to that specific risk (of contracting HIV).”
Concerning Mr Konzani’s sentence, the appeal court judges ruled that it was “neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle.”
The retrial of Mr Mohammed Dica, who was convicted of similar offences, is currently underway.