German singer tells court: ‘I’m sorry I hid HIV from my lovers’

Germany's top girl-band singer apologised to a court today for having sex with men without telling them she carried the virus that causes Aids.

Nadja Benaissa, 28, told justices at the District Court of Darmstadt: "I am sorry with all my heart."

She said she was "careless during those days" and admitted she did not tell her sex partners about her condition. Charged with infecting a man with the virus, she said: "I never wanted this to happen to one of my partners."

Benaissa, a singer with the band No Angels — which at their height could be compared to the UK's Girls Aloud — is charged with attempted aggravated assault for having unprotected sex with three men.

She is also accused of aggravated assault after one of them — who is expected to give evidence today — became infected with Aids.

One of Benaissa's defence witnesses, Aids expert Dr Josef Eberle of Munich's Ludwig Maximilians University, is expected to testify that the victim may have been infected by another sexual partner. The case is being heard by a judge and two lay people. If found guilty, Benaissa could be jailed for up to 10 years. Her HIV status was discovered in 2000 during a pregnancy test. "I was totally surprised," she said.

The court heard she had sexual encounters with the three men a maximum of five times between 2000 and 2004. She is appearing before a juvenile court because her infection happened when she was 17.

Benaissa was arrested in April last year. One of the uninfected partners made a complaint about her to police the previous year. Dressed in jeans and a purple shirt with her hair in a ponytail, Benaissa said that her "handling" of her illness was "wrong" when she failed to disclose her HIV infection.

No Angels were discovered in 2000 during the TV talent show Popstars. They are Germany's most successful girl band and sold five million albums from 2000 to 2003.

Last November Benaissa told an Aids charity gala in Berlin: "My name is Nadja Benaissa, I'm 27 years old, I have a daughter — and I'm HIV-positive."