An asylum seeker who infected three women with HIV by having unprotected sex, despite knowing he had the virus, today lost his appeal against convictions for inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Musician Feston Konzani, 28, who was jailed for 10 years at Teesside Crown Court last May after being found guilty of charges in relation to the women, aged 15, 26 and 27, had urged three Court of Appeal judges in London to rule the convictions ''unsafe''.

His QC, Timothy Roberts, submitted to Lord Justice Judge, Mr Justice Grigson and Judge Radford QC, at a hearing last month, that the convictions were ''unsafe'' because of ''two legal errors''.

Today, Lord Justice Judge, Mr Justice Grigson and Judge Radford QC, rejecting the appeal, said the truth was that Konzani had ''deceived '' his victims.

Konzani, who was not present in court, is due to be deported to Malawi once he finishes his sentence. The judges also dismissed his appeal against the length of his sentence, which they said was ''neither manifestly excessive nor wrong in principle''.

It was argued on Konzani's behalf during the appeal that his convictions were unsafe because the legal directions given by the trial judge on the issue of consent - whether the complainants consented to a risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease - were ''unduly restrictive''.

Mr Roberts had submitted it was a ''serious misdirection of law to direct the jury that a complainant could not, as a matter of law, consent to the contraction of a sexually transmitted disease unless that complainant specifically contemplated the risk of becoming infected with the particular disease which was, in fact, transmitted''.

The appeal judges heard that Konzani's defence at trial was that the complainants ''consented to the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease because in the circumstances known to them at the time there were reasonable grounds to apprehend that they might contract an infection''.

Mr Roberts argued that when a defendant was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm, and he relied on the defence of consent to the risk of harm, it was necessary for the prosecution to prove that he did not hold an honest and genuine belief that the complainant was consenting before he may be convicted.

But Lord Justice Judge, giving the ruling of the court today, ruled: ''There is not the slightest evidence, direct or indirect, from which a jury could begin to infer that the appellant (Konzani) honestly believed that any complainant consented to that specific risk (of contracting HIV).'' As there was no such evidence, the judge's ruling on ''honest belief'' was correct.

He added: ''In fact, the honest truth was that the appellant deceived them.'' Dismissing the appeal against conviction, Lord Justice Judge said the jury had concluded in the case of each complainant ''that she did not willingly or consciously consent to the risk of suffering the HIV virus''.

Rejecting the appeal against sentence the judge said the court had ''reflected'' on the position of one of the complainants, who ''is extremely compassionate and forgiving and would support, indeed seeks, a reduction of the sentence on the appellant in her case''.

But he said: ''It seems to us, however, that while the sentencing court should always take account of the impact of an offence on its victim, the appropriate sentence should not normally be influenced by the wishes of the victim.

''Otherwise, there would be wild sentencing inconsistency, and the eventual outcome after compassion or mercy.''

All the offences were carried out in the Middlesbrough area between November 2000 and August 2003.

peaking after the ruling, Detective Inspector Ted Allen, who lead the Konzani inquiry, said: ''The decision of the Appeal Court today is an important and welcome one - and not just for the women who fell victim to Konzani.

''It sends out a strong message to others suffering from this deadly virus that they must bear responsibility for their actions.

''Konzani was a man who knew he was ill and callously took no steps in his close relationships with a number of women to inform them of his illness or prevent the spread of HIV.

''Fortunately his lies and denials were exposed during his trial at Teesside Crown Court by a number of brave victims who came forward to testify against him.

''The Appeal Court decision today upholds all the good work done in what was a detailed and complicated police inquiry and emphasises that those who set out to deceive in such cases are fully responsible for the devastating consequences.''