Man with HIV who raped three women 'destroyed their confidence'

A man with HIV who raped three women has been jailed for 13 years.

Daniel Taylor was sentenced for the crimes at the High Court in Glasgow.

The 41-year-old former hotel worker had been convicted of the attacks following an earlier trial.

The first occurred at a property in the city’s Saltmarket in September 2023.

This included the woman being pinned down and restrained.

Taylor preyed on his next victim in February 2024 after causing her to take an unknown drug leaving her in a vulnerable state.

The final woman was similarly raped two months later after a substance left her unable to consent to any sexual contact.

Taylor had denied the charges at the trial last month.

The court heard, in a pre-sentencing report, Taylor was said to have displayed “victim blaming” and that he took “no responsibility” for what he done with the document featuring “other words critical of his position”.

Gary Allan KC, defending, told the hearing Taylor’s HIV was a “non-transmissible” form of the condition.

He added: “People who hear that acronym obviously have a reason to be concerned.”

Taylor – then known as Keith Christie – had previously faced accusations at the same court back in 2014 including claims he had unprotected sex with six women while knowing he suffered from the virus.

He was also charged then with being involved in running brothels.

But, the high-profile allegations were dropped by prosecutors prior to the case going to trial.

Mr Allan referred to that case at this latest hearing describing it as a “political hot potato at the time”.

As well as jailing Taylor for the rapes, Judge Alasdair MacFadyen ordered him to be supervised for a further three years on his release.

He told Taylor that having read emotional victim impact statements, the attacker had “destroyed their confidence and ability to live a normal life”.

Taylor was put on the sex offenders list indefinitely.

A woman – believed to be the mother of one of the victims – shouted angrily at Taylor as was lead handcuffed back to the cells.