Alternative healer jailed after grandmother died at slapping therapy workshop
6 December 2024, 12:27 | Updated: 6 December 2024, 14:45
An alternative healer has been jailed after a grandmother died at one of his slapping therapy workshops.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Winchester Crown Court on Friday for the manslaughter of 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm.
He was convicted by a jury in July at Winchester Crown Court of manslaughter by gross negligence after failing to get medical help for Mrs Carr-Gomm, who was from Lewes, East Sussex.
He was also sentenced to a further five years on extended licence after his time in prison.
Ms Carr-Gomm died at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016 while taking part in the Paida Lajin therapy event, which sees patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.
The 71-year-old, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1999, was "howling in pain" and "frothing at the mouth" as she became seriously ill before she died on the fourth day of the workshop, the court heard.
In a broadcast sentencing of Xiao on Friday, Mr Justice Bright said: "I sentence you on the basis you knew from late in the afternoon of day one of the fact that Danielle Carr-Gomm had stopped taking her insulin. Furthermore you made it clear to her you supported this."
The judge said Xiao made a "token effort" to get her to take her insulin which was too little, too late, and showed "no real sign of clear remorse" as he continues to practice and promote Paida Laijin in prison.
"I consider you dangerous even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders," he added.
Jurors were told Ms Carr-Gomm had sought alternatives to her insulin medication because of her vegetarianism and fear of needles.
The court heard that she had provided a testimonial for Xiao, describing him as a "messenger sent by God" who was "starting a revolution to put the power back in the hands of the people to cure themselves and to change the whole system of health care".
Ms Carr-Gomm joined the Paida Lajin workshop, which means "slap and stretch", having attended another in Bulgaria in July, where she also stopped her insulin medication and became seriously ill before recovering.
The court had heard that Xiao said "well done" to her after she told the participants in Wiltshire that she had stopped taking her insulin at the week-long retreat, and she again became seriously ill.
By the third day "she was vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was howling in pain and unable to respond to questions", prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said.
A chef at the workshop, Teresa Hayes, told jurors she wanted to call an ambulance but trusted those with more experience of the holistic healing method.
Mr Atkinson described how the defendant failed to get medical help for Ms Carr-Gomm before she died in the early hours of the fourth day.
"Those who had received and accepted the defendant's teachings misinterpreted Mrs Carr-Gomm's condition as a healing crisis," the prosecutor said.
He said Xiao had been an "exponent" of Paida Lajin for 10 years and had written a book on it.
Mr Atkinson said: "It is said to be a method of self-healing in which 'poisonous waste' is expelled from the body through patting and slapping parts of the body."
He added: "He does not have medical qualifications or training."
Ms Carr-Gomm was born in France and moved to the UK aged 21.
Following her death, her son Matthew Carr-Gomm, who lives in New Zealand, said: "She was always keen to try and find alternative methods of treating and dealing with her diabetes, and was very interested in alternative and holistic medicine and therapies.
"I know she was desperate to try and cure herself of this disease.
"She always maintained a healthy lifestyle and was adamant that nothing would stop her from living a full life.
"In recent years, mum was in a great place with a partner, a lovely home and was travelling the world. She had a lot of life left in her."
After the verdict in July, the head of the CPS special crime 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 in charge, yet he failed to respond to Ms Carr-Gomm's worsening condition, with tragic consequences.
"His failure to take reasonable steps to help Ms Carr-Gomm substantially contributed to her death and amounted to gross negligence."
