Rugby star Gareth Thomas admits he didn’t tell former partner that he was HIV positive

Rugby star Gareth Thomas has admitted he did not tell a former partner that he was HIV positive when starting a relationship, High Court documents show.

His ex, Ian Baum, accuses Mr Thomas, 48, of ‘concealing’ that he was HIV positive and failing ‘to take reasonable care’ before transmitting the virus to him while they were a couple.

Former Wales captain Mr Thomas has now conceded that he did not tell Mr Baum he was HIV positive when the pair started a relationship in October 2013.

He denies passing HIV to Mr Baum or being controlling and coercive in their relationship.

Former Wales rugby international, Gareth Thomas, conceded that he did not tell Mr Baum he was HIV positive when the pair started a relationship in October 2013

HIV carriers can be charged with grievous bodily harm if they fail to reveal their health condition to potential partners and then pass the infection on.

Mr Thomas denies he ‘lied’ about his HIV positive condition because he was never asked by Mr Baum, 59, about it.

He also said they did not have sex for four months after getting together because he ‘sustained an injury’.

But he did admit he was ‘incorrect’ to believe then he could not transmit the condition to others, which his lawyers said was ‘a genuinely held belief at the material time’.

In a case due to be heard in the High Court, Mr Thomas is accused by Mr Baum of ‘assault, battery, infliction of intentional harm and negligence’.

Mr Baum is claiming at least £150,000 in damages, although it could be significantly higher for ‘serious physical and psychological injury’ and a ‘resultant loss of life expectancy of approximately six to eight years’.

: Gareth Thomas of Wales in action during the RBS Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham on February 4, 2006 in London, England.

The retired rugby star claims he and Mr Baum only had sex after Mr Baum revealed he was HIV positive in 2014 and Mr Thomas did the same.

In High Court documents submitted last week, Mr Thomas’s lawyers claim that Mr Baum ‘was somewhat blasé’ about contracting HIV, ‘his attitude being that he was bound to get HIV sooner or later’. But they add: ‘It is admitted the claimant [Mr Baum] did not expressly consent to the risk of HIV transmission from the defendant.’

Mr Thomas said Mr Baum was ‘promiscuous’ during their relationship, although the evidence for this is still ‘subject to determination’. Mr Baum claims he was monogamous while they were together.

The allegations against Mr Thomas, which relate to the period between 2013 and 2018, came before he revealed in an interview and BBC documentary in 2019 that he had HIV.

He came out as gay in 2009 near the end of a distinguished career, including 100 caps for Wales, and was lauded as an LGBTQ pioneer in sport.