A HAIRDRESSER said he did not remember sending a text to a male lover which said: “I have HIV. Lol. Whoops.”

Daryll Rowe told a jury he could not recall most of the conversation he had after having sex with his first alleged victim. But he said the messages were “just nasty” and would have been written “just to get a reaction”.

The 27-year-old, originally from Edinburgh and now of no fixed address, is on trial at Lewes Crown Court facing allegations he deliberately tried to infect ten men with the virus.

On Thursday during cross examination he said he did not remember sending a string of abusive text messages to his first alleged victim, including one which said: “I have HIV. Lol. Whoops.”

Caroline Carberry QC, prosecuting, claimed this was the start of his “campaign” to infect men.

She said: “It’s convenient for you not to remember this text because you know this text is a very damning text.”

Rowe replied: “It’s the truth.

“I can’t tell you what I think of the message because I can’t remember sending it.”

Most of the men who gave evidence in court said Rowe told them in person that he was free from the virus.

He accused them of lying. He said the conversations never happened but did admit lying to one of them about having a negative test result and being clear of the virus.

Ms Carberry suggested there were two sides to him – someone who could be a “very charming, very obliging, really nice person” and a “nasty, angry individual”.

He said: “That doesn’t represent me as a person.”

Prior to moving to Brighton, where he met eight of his alleged victims, he was diagnosed with HIV and spoke with doctors and health professionals at an Edinburgh clinic on several occasions.

He said he didn’t like taking prescription drugs and had instead read online about natural therapies such as drinking your own urine.

Ms Carberry said his claim he thought alternative urine therapy was curing him was a “nonsense” to explain the “campaign” he embarked on to infect men with HIV.

Referring to drinking his own urine, he asked: “Why would I do it every single day if I thought it was nonsense?”

Ms Carberry replied: “Because you didn’t want to treat this infection, for whatever reason.”

He replied: “I wanted to cure it, I thought I was curing it.”

Rowe conceded he did lie to a doctor after being told of his diagnosis when he said he would not have unprotected sex.

He also told the court he did not read literature given to him about his illness because he did not trust the methods of medical professionals and that he did not seek any treatment before moving to Brighton.

The trial continues.