But Kenneth Alfred Steede, of North Shore, St. George's, escaped new laws which could have seen him serving 20 years in jail.

Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward was able to sentence Steede to just five years for unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 16 year old.

Under new sexual offences legislation Steede could have faced up to 20 years after having sex without a condom despite the fact he knew he had the HIV virus, which leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Steede's lawyer Mr. Tim Marshall said his client had acted irresponsibly, but not out of callousness.

The 28-year-old defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl of or over 14 years but under 16 years. They occurred over three periods from June 1992 to January 1993, broken by a split in the relationship and a period Steede spent in jail for an unrelated offence.

Crown Counsel Steve Harrison said Steede, known as "Chunk King,'' committed the first offences at the age of 26 when the complainant was 14.

Mr. Harrison said: "When the sexual relationship began the complainant was a virgin and Steede was HIV positive having been told in July 1990.'' During the first contact Steede did not use a condom and did not ejaculate inside the girl. In fact he never wore a condom during sex with the girl.

Mr. Harrison said: "At no time did he tell her that he was HIV positive.

When she later confronted him after hearing rumours that he had AIDS he said: `I ain't got AIDS.' "She tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease but she has not tested positive for HIV.'' In a written statement the girl's mother said she was frightened of what HIV could do to her daughter. She said the girl's uncle had AIDS and they had seen the effects of the symptoms.

She said: "Whenever I talk to my daughter about AIDS we end up arguing.

She wants to block out the matter. She does not want to discuss it.

"She wants to block it out because she does not want to go through the symptoms of AIDS. She says she does not mind dying but she does not want to go through the symptoms.'' Although the girl has not tested positive for the virus it may appear in the future, said pathologist Dr. Keith Cunningham.

Mr. Harrison said because the offences occurred before the Sexual Offences Amendment Act came into effect on July 1 last year, the Chief Justice's powers to ensure public safety were limited.

"He was not only breaking the law but putting this young girl in grave risk of her life every time he had sexual intercourse with her,'' Mr. Harrison said. "Each time he determined he would proceed nonetheless.'' Steede's girlfriend at the time of the offences knew about the relationship with the girl, but she did not know he was HIV positive.

Mr. Harrison said: "It must be plain that Steede has an attraction to young girls below the age of consent.

"Never more than at this moment has there been a need to protect these women from the immaturity of their own judgement. Today, as this bears out, there is a risk of life threatening illness and even death by unprotected sexual intercourse.

"Steede is guilty of putting this girl's life at risk simply for reasons of his own personal gratification.'' Mr. Marshall said Steede's guilty pleas had meant the court's time had not been wasted. He accepted the knowledge of the HIV virus was an aggravating factor.

But he said: "This was not callousness but irresponsibility. Dr. Cunningham points out that often when dealing with a disease one of the factors is that the patient is entering into a state of denial.

"It is different from cancer. With HIV there are no symptoms at all. You feel extremely good and you feel the same as before you were diagnosed.'' Mr. Marshall felt Steede was particularly vulnerable having left school at an early age and not had a lot of education, so he knew little about counselling available.

He said Steede wanted to apologise to the girl and her family for his conduct, appreciating the emotional problems it will cause living with the fear of AIDS.

But he stressed Dr. Cunningham had said the instances of ejaculation outside the body had lowered the risk of infection. Dr. Cunningham had said the volume of fluids was a major factor.

Steede had agreed to have counselling and now acknowledged he had the disease.

Mr. Marshall said: "He knows he must not behave irresponsibly in the future.'' The Chief Justice took into account the pleas of mitigation but said the fact that Steede had committed the offences knowingly having HIV virus was an aggravating factor.

He sentenced Steede to two consecutive periods of 18 months and one of two years,totalling five years in prison.