Hongchi Xiao, slapping therapist, guilty of involuntary manslaughter

An alternative healer has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter after a woman died at one of his workshops.

Hongchi Xiao, 61, of Cloudbreak, California, was convicted after Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, died of complications from diabetes in 2016.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court was told she stopped taking insulin while on a retreat in Wiltshire, where Xiao promoted slapping therapy as a “cure” for the condition.

The jury returned a majority verdict of 11 to 1 on Friday after 19 hours and 30 minutes of deliberations.

Judge Robert Bright said the jury had asked many questions and had been a “shining example” of the jury system of which “we should all be proud”.

Ms Carr-Gomm, from Lewes in East Sussex, suffered from type 1 diabetes, which meant she had to take insulin every day to keep her blood sugar levels under control.

Yet she had always been afraid of needles and had often looked for other ways to cope with the illness.

She first attended a paida lajin workshop led by Xiao in Bulgaria in July 2016.

Paida lajin, meaning “slapping and stretching,” is a therapy in which people slap themselves and others in order to expel toxins from the body.

Ms Carr-Gomm believed it worked and provided glowing testimonials, the court heard.

She decided to attend another Xiao workshop at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said Ms Carr-Gomm announced on the first day of the workshop that she had stopped taking her insulin, for which Xiao “congratulated” her.

Like other participants, she began fasting, but quickly became seriously ill, “tired,” “weak” and “screaming in pain” by the third day.

By the fourth day, Ms Carr-Gomm had died of diabetic ketoacidosis.

The case against Xiao focused on whether he owed a duty of care to Ms Carr-Gomm and whether he could reasonably have foreseen her death.

In his own defence, Xiao said he did not organise the Wiltshire workshop but was paid to run it.

The former banker also repeatedly stressed in court that he was not a doctor, had no medical training and did not provide health care.

He described paida lajin as a self-healing method that he taught to others and repeatedly said that he would never tell people to suddenly stop taking medication.

But the prosecution maintained that the high regard in which Ms Carr-Gomm held Xiao meant he was in a “position of leadership and control over her care… and owed her a duty which he failed to fulfil”.

A key part of the prosecution’s case was Xiao’s previous experience with diabetics who had stopped taking insulin at his workshops.

Ms Carr-Gomm had already stopped taking her medication by the time of the conference in Bulgaria in 2016.

On this occasion, she started vomiting, but Xiao managed to persuade her to start taking insulin again and she recovered.

Additionally, the court heard that a six-year-old boy died at one of Xiao’s Sydney workshops in 2015 after his parents stopped giving him insulin.

Xiao was imprisoned in Australia and banned from providing any medical treatment.

The judge noted in that case that he had persuaded the boy’s parents not to give him his medication, something Xiao disputed.

Winchester prosecutors argued that this meant he should have been aware of the dangerous consequences of not taking insulin.

Wiltshire Police told BBC News the case was unusually complex because Xiao was imprisoned in Australia and witnesses were spread across the world.

Detective Inspector Phil Walker said: “He believed so much in what he was practising… but he was aware that not taking insulin was dangerous because of his previous experiences and his knowledge of Ms Carr-Gomm in particular.

“From their previous meetings at this workshop in Bulgaria he knew the impact and the effects, but he still chose not to take any action here in Wiltshire when she fell ill.”

Ms Carr-Gomm’s son told BBC News that, aside from her diabetes, his mother was a “very healthy woman” and had “many years left to give”.

“The reason my mother attended the workshop was because she wanted to live and if she had known there was a risk I don’t think she would have attended the workshop,” added Matthew Carr-Gomm.

Xiao was remanded in custody and will be tried on October 1.

After the verdict, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crimes division, 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 man responsible, but he failed to respond to Ms Carr-Gomm’s worsening condition, with tragic consequences.

“His failure to take reasonable steps to assist Ms Carr-Gomm contributed substantially to her death and constituted gross negligence.”

Detective Constable Phil Walker of Wiltshire Police said: “Xiao’s not guilty plea has only shown the lack of remorse he feels over Danielle’s death and has made an already extremely difficult and upsetting process for Danielle’s family even more lengthy and distressing.

“Danielle was a mother and grandmother who loved life and travel. Her passing has come as a huge shock to her family and friends and our thoughts are with them at this time.”