Neal awaiting sentence
A HIV-positive man found guilty of deliberately infecting people with the virus is awaiting sentence as the court heard last week he was part of a -œrisky subculture.
Lawyer for Michael John Neal, 50, said Neal was expecting a jail sentence after being found guilty of 15 offences, and pleading guilty to another 11 counts in August.
After a six-week trial, Neal was found guilty of attempting to infect another person with HIV, rape, procuring sex by fraud, producing and possessing child pornography, committing indecent acts with a child under 16, and possessing a drug of dependence.
The jury heard Neal had attended -œconversion parties to deliberately infect others with HIV.
As part of the plea, Neal’s lawyer, George Georgiou told the court Neal’s parents died when he was a child and between the ages of four and 15 years he was in and out of orphanages, where he was sexually abused.
Georgiou asked the judge to view the fact Neal was also part of a subculture where -œrisky sexual behavior is a prominent feature … a subculture in which the notion of individual responsibility was cast aside.
Georgiou told the court Neal had a background of depression and social problems and had been assaulted while awaiting his sentence.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue next week.
