HIV fisherman seeks release

A Cypriot fisherman convicted of knowingly infecting his British girlfriend Janette Pink with the deadly HIV virus is seeking early release from prison.

Pavlos Georgiou, 40, sentenced to 15 months in prison on 31 July, has appealed to the Cyprus president to pardon him on humanitarian grounds.

Georgiou has seen his health deteriorate while in prison and has pleaded for an early release to allow him to spend time with his children. He in particular wants to spend more time with his five-year-old son Raphael, who is also HIV positive.

He is serving time in Nicosia's central prison after a court found him guilty of concealing his condition while repeatedly having unprotected sex with Mrs Pink, 45, a divorcee from Essex, after a whirlwind romance on the island.