A British tourist living with HIV has been given an option to pay a fine of 500,000 dalasis or serve a one-year jail term for putting Gambian women at risk.

As part of the sentence imposed by the Banjul Magistrates’ Court, Paul Robert Fuller would be deported after paying his fine.

The Briton, who’s a regulator visitor to The Gambia, had pleaded guilty to exposing two of his sex partners to HIV. He’d slept with the women without informing them that he was living with the virus that still has no functional cure.

Police prosecutor Lamin Jarju last week disclosed in court that the Briton had sex several times with two women between February and September of 2015.

 “Looking at the circumstances, the convict is already a threat to health and national security because HIV is a deadly disease,” said Prosecutor Jarju.

He added that Paul, who was diagnosed with the virus 32 years ago in his native England, should not be allowed to remain in The Gambia and continue sleeping with Gambian women.

Defense lawyer, Kebba Sanyang, in his plea of mitigation revealed that his client has three children with two British women and a Gambian, Martina Mendy – all after his diagnosis.

 “By virtue of his treatment, all the ladies and their children are HIV free,” Sanyang said.

He appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy by imposing a fine and not a custodial sentence on Paul.

Courtesy of Daily Observer