A SCOTTISH hairdresser who deliberately tried to infect 10 men with HIV is due to be sentenced.

The Ediburgh man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, became the first man in the country to be found guilty of intentionally setting out to spread the virus.

He faces a life sentence with an extended term for being a danger to the public when he appears at Brighton Crown Court on Wednesday.

Branded "grotesque" and a "sociopath" by his victims, the 27-year-old was convicted in October of 10 charges - five of grievous bodily harm with intent and five of attempting to do so.

After being diagnosed in April 2015 in his home city of Edinburgh, he met men on gay dating app Grindr and had sex with eight of them in Brighton, East Sussex, between October that year and February 2016, before fleeing to the north east where he went on the run from police, targeting two more men.

His six-week trial heard he embarked on a cynical and deliberate campaign to infect men with HIV, refusing treatment and ignoring advice from doctors.

He insisted on having unprotected sex with men, claiming he was "clean". When they refused, he tampered with condoms, tricking them into thinking he was practising safe sex.

Afterwards he would become aggressive and taunted some of the men in text messages. He repeatedly lied to authorities and would use aliases with his victims.