Man feared his life was over after unknown-HIV sex

Adam Hall is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court

This article contains sexual details some people may find distressing

A man feared his life was over after finding out a man he had unprotected sex with had HIV, a court has heard.

Adam Hall, 43, is accused of deliberately infecting seven young men with the virus after meeting them in bars in Newcastle or on dating apps, the city's Crown Court heard.

One man, who is not one of the complainants, said he was 18 when he met Mr Hall and the pair did not discuss diseases before having sex in the defendant's car.

Mr Hall, from Donwell in Washington, denies raping five men and seven counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Prosecutors have said Mr Hall knew he was HIV positive, having been diagnosed in 2010, but did not tell sexual partners, did not use protection and did not take the drugs he should have done to make him non-infectious.

Jurors heard from a man, who cannot be identified, who was 18 when he met Mr Hall in a bar in Newcastle in about 2016.

The man said Mr Hall was a "regular" at the venue and the pair spoke for a couple of months before their relationship became sexual.

It culminated with the couple having anal sex in Mr Hall's car in an alleyway behind the pub, the court heard, with Mr Hall not using a condom when he penetrated the man.

'Defendant liked rough sex'

About two weeks later, another bar patron told him Mr Hall had HIV, the court heard.

"How did you feel at that point?" prosecutor Kama Melly KC asked the man.

"I just burst out crying," the man said, adding: "I did think that my life was over at that point because I was so young and didn't know what would happen with it."

The man went for an HIV test at a clinic which came back negative, the court heard.

"I did become quite depressed for a bit waiting for the results," he told jurors.

Ms Melly asked if the man confronted Mr Hall.

"No I didn't, I'm not a confrontational person," the man said, adding he did not think he ever actually saw Mr Hall again.

The court heard he was contacted by detectives investigating Mr Hall in 2024 as he was referenced as a sexual partner in clinic records.

The man also told jurors he had spoken with one of the men Mr Hall is accused of raping who said the defendant liked to have "rough" sex.

The trial continues.