A PIMP from Toothill has admitted recklessly infecting three women with HIV.

Appearing before Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday John Rodney, 60, formerly of Luddesdown Road, Toothill, pleaded guilty to three counts of grievous bodily harm by infecting women with the sexually transmitted infection.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Friday, March 6.

Detectives launched an investigation in 2017 after a complaint from one woman who had contracted HIV after having unprotected sexual intercourse with Rodney.

Police found Rodney had been aware of his HIV status and had engaged in unprotected sex with numerous women over several years without informing them of his condition, or taking essential medication. 

More than 50 women were approached by officers and health professionals. Police found at least three women had contracted HIV having had unprotected sex with him.

Reacting to the guilty pleas, Det Insp Helen Jacobs of Wiltshire Police said: “This has been an extremely complex investigation which has required close partnership working with our health colleagues in Swindon to determine the full extent of Rodney’s offending and the potential implications on the health of those living in Swindon.

“I am pleased, for the victims, that Rodney has now pleaded guilty.”

Read more: HIV positive ex-pimp from Toothill sentenced to five years at Swindon Crown Court

In 2018, Rodney was jailed for five years for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from having sex with women without telling the police.

Rodney, who has a history of procuring prostitutes, repeatedly breached a Sexual Risk Order imposed to protect vulnerable women. He gave a drug addict sex worker crack cocaine to get her to perform a sex act on him and took pictures of her.

Within weeks of magistrates imposing it last December he was failing to comply with its terms. He was found accessing online pornography and in April a vulnerable sex worker moved into his Toothill flat for a week or so.

He helped her register on to online sex sites and repeatedly pestered her to have sex with him. She eventually consented to preform a sex act, getting paid on crack cocaine, though she insisted he wear a condom.