AIBU to think a 14 month sentence for passing on herpes is thin end of wedge?

[Cheria]

This article has really annoyed me. Herpes is a common virus. Her ex- boyfriend denied passing it on, and lied so is a twunt, of course, but jailing him for 14 months?

With all the STDs tehre are now, some of which are really serious, is this not the thin end of the wedge? Herpes, for me, is a nuisance, but there is no way I would want the person who gave it me to go to jail. It's not AIDS FFS.

Suing someone over this is just opening the way for so many revenge cases. It's worrying that the judicial system is wasting time on this. Disclaimer: if he had knowingly infected her with AIDS it would be a different story.

worldgonecrazy I agree. Especially now she has sold the story to Closer magazine.

Well yes, most people pick up herpes as children. Children are slobbery and get kissed by lots of people. I have genital herpes, but on my H it's also called a childhood cold sore infection. Same virus but very different connotations.

And there is no way he would have got 14 months for giving her a coldsore on the mouth.

What I find curious is that it would seem that the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge and, therefore, the merits of the case were not argued before a jury.

It may be that there will be an appeal and further facts may become known.

There is remedy in law for what he did. She exercised her right to seek that remedy.

Good on her.

.

I don't know really I think knowingly giving someone a lifelong infection is pretty despicable.....More prison term than a rapist/burglar? I'm not sure.

CHERIA, according to the Herpes Virus Assoc, you cannot GIVE yourself genital herpes. THe virus does not work like that. You catch it where you catch it and there it stays, So you wouldn't be able to rub your lips and touh your vagina and transfer it, you could only have it in two places if they were both infected at the same time, or for example you had HSV1 on the vagina and HSV2 on the mouth.

I notice sexual health charities and the assoc for herpes sufferers are against the court case.

Oral herpes can be a nuisance, can get infected and lead to problems such as herpes encephalitis (which can lead to brain damage) and bells palsy....but hey theres no stigma in getting it from old aunt Rose slobbering over you as a child is there...

"It may be that there will be an appeal and further facts may become known."

There could only be an appeal against the sentence imposed. He could hardly appeal against hte conviction when he pleaded guilty. And a jury only decides guilt or innocence, they do not impose sentence, that is the job of a judge. The only difference in sentence had the defendant been found guilty after a full trial rather than pleading guilty is that he would have got a harsher sentence.
The judge passing sentence on a guilty plea still reads the entire case papers, victim personal statement etc. The only difference is that the facts of the matter are not in dispute.

Laitauchocolat then I have been misinformed. I have HSV1 down below and have never had a coldsore on the mouth. The doctor said that if I had had a coldsore I could have transferred it myself. Plus was warned to be very careful and hygienic so that I do not transfer it to my eyes (which is more serious).

Private Eye have an article about this in the current issue:

drphilhammond.com/blog/category/private-eye/

NoCheria that is wrong - you can only get one type in one area. You could be unlucky and get type one facially and type two genitally but you can't cross-infect yourself or get both types in one place.

Always worth speaking to a sexual health advisor on this stuff.

There is so much bollocks about the herpes virus that people believe.

Most people have herpes simplex - 70% have facial herpes (cold sores) and 10% have genital herpes in the UK. These figures are even higher in other countries including the USA and the developing world.

Three quarters don't know they have it: 1 in 4 will have no symptoms; 2 in 4 will have only mild symptoms and are unlikely to be diagnosed; 1 in 4 will have more noticeable symptoms and will be diagnosed. (this is from the herpes virus association)

My DP never told me that he sometimes gets cold sores (in all the years we have been together he has only had 1 cold sore, and this was after I contracted HSV1 genitally)
I got it from him through oral sex even though he had no cold sore there at that time.
Shall I take him to court too? Unsure about the amount of time the woman stayed with the man after she got herpes and only took him to court after they broke up.

Excellent article Acekicker thanks for that. (I like it even more coz it agrees with me)

Great post Leverkusen - nice to see someone quoting actual statistics rather than ridiculous ill informed hysterics, that just further stigmatise something that is, in 99.9% of cases, nothing more than an occasional nuisance.

I got GH at 19 years old from my then DP (later became my DH). Was I over the moon? No of course not but there are a lot of worse things in life.

Contrary to the bollocks written on here by some people, genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life, or that you can not have a vaginal birth. No-one I have ever told has had a problem with it, and the doctors positively encourage a vaginal births unless you are having an outbreak at the time - even then it is highly unlikely it would be passed onto the baby unless your first episode is late on in pregnancy (and the baby therefore hasn't had time to develop anti-bodies from the mother).

Of course occasionally there can be more serious complications but this is extremely rare and could be said of pratically every 'minor' ailment.

Of course of he deliberately passed it on that is a terrible thing to do, but we dont know that is what happened. I do question what sort of person would want to tell a story like this to Closer though.

I realise genital herpes is probably something most people dont know much about - most people only look into it when they have a reason to. That is understandable - however if you do know fuck all about something, please just dont comment because it is this sort of bullshit that increases the stigma and therefore makes people more reluctant to tell new partners.

Didn't mean you wer doing the stigmatising Vivian - sorry if it came across that way :)

Her GP was a prat!

Cheria in the paper it clearly stated he said he given it to her so no one else would want her .

And if I am honest I wouldn't want to have sex with someone who had herpes

Cheria wonder if they feel the same if someone gives them a incurable STD

She is very young and no matter what any one say not many blokes will be hot for someone with herpies

No, it said she said he had said that - we have no idea if it's true or not.

Wow, you had better keep your number of sexual partners well down then Maypole :)

maypole1, just out of curiosity, if you found you had genital herpes, would you 'shut up shop', so to speak and spend the rest of your days celibate?

"he said he had given it her so no one else would want her". I thought that statement was made during an argument, in the heat of the moment. More likely he was too embarassed to tell her he was infected because of the stigma that has been mentioned several times in this thread.

You'll find that blokes who get past the hysteria about it are quite fine with it in the main. never had a problem personally, and have always been open about it. Never been refused, and now am happily married and have a herpes free DD.