Haemophiliac accused of infecting women with Aids dies

A MAN accused of deliberately infecting four women with the Aids virus has died in hospital. Roy Cornes, 26, a haemophiliac from Kings Heath, Birmingham, died from an Aids-related illness.

Two years ago it was revealed that he had slept with several women who later contracted the disease. One of the women, Gina Allen, 20, died as a result.

Mr Cornes, who contracted HIV through a contaminated blood transfusion, died at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 27 May. His wife Linda, 27, who stood by him despite the revelations, was at his bedside. He is due to be buried today.

Mrs Cornes said: 'People made him out to be a monster but Roy was a kind, caring and lovely man. Our lives were wrecked when these allegations were first made . . . If it hadn't been for all the lies and gossip, I am convinced Roy would still be alive today.'

Mr Cornes was one of six brothers - all haemophiliacs - three of whom were infected with HIV in 1984 through contaminated transfusions. In November 1992, his brother Garry died, aged 26, but another brother Gordon, 39, who is HIV-positive, has survived.