A German girlband singer who had unprotected sex with her former boyfriend despite knowing she was HIV positive has avoided jail.
Nadja Benaissa, 28, was convicted in a Darmstadt administrative court of causing her ex-boyfriend bodily harm after they had unprotected sex.
The No Angels singer cried as she was told to carry out 300 hours of community service and given a two-year suspended prison sentence on Thursday.
Benaissa could have been sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.
The court ruled that she had unprotected sex with her ex-boyfriend which led to him contracting the virus that causes Aids.
Benaissa helped her case during the trial, which began on August 16, by acknowledging she had unprotected sex despite knowing she was HIV-positive and saying it was a big mistake.
"I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart," Benaissa said, adding that she had realised how much her ex-boyfriend was still suffering.
"I wish I could turn back time and make everything undone," she told the court. "But I know that he will never forgive me."
The man who claimed Benaissa infected him said they had a three-month relationship at the beginning of 2004 and that he got tested after Benaissa's aunt asked him in 2007 whether he was aware that the singer was HIV positive.
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