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An alternative healer who failed to get medical help for a 71-year-old diabetic woman who died after she stopped taking insulin during her slapping therapy retreat has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Danielle Carr-Gomm died at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016 while taking part in a paida lajin therapy event. Paida lajin therapy involves slapping patients or themselves repeatedly.
Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, was found guilty by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of the gross negligence manslaughter of Carr-Gomm, of Lewes, East Sussex.
Xiao, 61, was extradited for trial from Australia, where he had previously been prosecuted over the death of a six-year-old boy who also died when his parents withdrew his insulin treatment after attending the defendant’s workshop in Sydney.
The court heard that Carr-Gomm, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1999, had become seriously ill and was “in severe pain”. She died on the fourth day of the workshop.
Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Carr-Gomm had sought alternatives to the insulin medication he had been prescribed for his diabetes because of his vegetarianism and fear of needles.
She had first joined a paida lajin workshop run by the defendant in Bulgaria in July 2016. She became seriously ill after stopping her insulin treatment, before restarting it and subsequently recovering.
Mr Atkinson described how Carr-Gomm then attended another Xiao workshop in Wiltshire in October that year.
The court heard how Xiao said “well done” to Carr-Gomm after she told the group she had stopped taking her insulin during the week-long retreat and subsequently fallen seriously ill.
Mr Atkinson said that by the third day of the event “she was vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was screaming in pain and unable to answer questions”.
Teresa Hayes, a chef who attended the workshop, told jurors Carr-Gomm was “delirious” and “foaming” before she died, adding that she had wanted to call an ambulance but had trusted those more experienced in the holistic healing method.
Mr Atkinson described how the defendant failed to get medical help for Carr-Gomm before she died in the early hours of the fourth day.
The prosecutor said: “Those who received and accepted the accused’s teachings wrongly interpreted Ms Carr-Gomm’s condition as a healing crisis.”
He said Xiao had been a “proponent” of paida lajin for 10 years and had written a book on the subject.
Mr Atkinson said: “It is said to be a method of self-healing in which ‘toxic waste’ is expelled from the body by tapping and slapping certain parts of the body.” He added: “He has no medical qualifications or training.
“In a book he wrote on paida lajin, the defendant claimed that taking insulin causes liver and eye problems, and that, in contrast, paida lajin was ‘safer and more reliable than existing healing practices.'” [and] “This would result in ‘significant improvement’ or complete cure in 90% of cases, including in cases of diabetes.”
He added that Xiao also wrote in the book that “doctors are brainwashed by drug producers to act as salesmen for their drugs.”
The court heard that Carr-Gomm gave evidence in Xiao’s favour, describing him as a “messenger sent by God” who was “starting a revolution to give people back the power to heal themselves and change the whole health care system”.
Carr-Gomm was born in France and moved to the UK at the age of 21. Speaking after her death, her son Matthew Carr-Gomm, who lives in New Zealand, said: “She was always keen to try and find alternative methods to treat and manage her diabetes, and was very interested in alternative and holistic medicine and therapies.
“I know she was desperate to be cured of this disease. She always had a healthy lifestyle and was convinced that nothing would stop her from living her life to the fullest.
“Mum had been living in a great place for the last few years, with a partner, a lovely house and travelling the world. She had a lot of life left in her.” He said his mother’s death had been a “huge shock” to the family.
During his trial testimony, Xiao said he would “never” persuade someone who needs insulin not to take it, adding that insulin is “useful.”
Regarding his attitude towards medications taken during his workshops, he added: “First of all, I said that I am not a doctor, so everyone is responsible for their own medications. Secondly, I am not totally against medicine. What worries me are the side effects of medications.”
After the verdict, Crown Prosecution Service Director Rosemary Ainslie said: “Hongchi Xiao knew the consequences of Danielle Carr-Gomm’s decision to stop taking insulin could be fatal; he had seen it before.
“Hongchi Xiao was the responsible man, but his failure to respond to Ms Carr-Gomm’s deteriorating condition had tragic consequences. His failure to take reasonable steps to assist Ms Carr-Gomm contributed substantially to her death and constituted gross negligence.”
Xiao will be tried on October 1.
