HIV sex offender from Torquay faces jail term

Image source, Nick Irving

Image caption, James Defalco was warned he faced an immediate jail term

A 54-year-old sex offender faces jail after having sex with a woman without telling her he was HIV positive.

Under a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) made in 2005 James Defalco, of Mallard Close, Torquay, has to tell anyone with whom he is in a relationship about his condition.

Exeter Crown Court heard he broke the order during September 2014.

He pleaded guilty to breaching his SOPO and is due to be sentenced next week.

In 2005 Defalco, who then went by the name of Derek Hornett, became one of the first people in Britain to be convicted of recklessly infecting someone with HIV.

He was made subject of the SOPO as a result of his conviction.

Adjourning the case for sentencing, Judge Francis Gilbert QC warned Defalco he was likely to receive an immediate jail sentence.