Diabetic woman ‘howled in pain’ before death at slap therapy workshop, court hears
Hongchi Xiao, of California, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence
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A diabetic woman was left “howling in pain” before she died after she stopped taking insulin at an alternative healer’s workshop.
Danielle Carr-Gomm, died at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, where she was taking part in the event that promoted Paida Lajin therapy, which sees patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.
Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, East Sussex.
Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mrs Carr-Gomm had sought alternatives to her insulin medication for Type 1 diabetes because of her vegetarianism and fear of needles.
Mr Atkinson said that the 30 people attending the workshop at Cleeve House were “keen disciples” of the defendant who was described as “Master Xiao” in the programme for the event.
He said the participants signed a disclaimer form which stated the practice was not “meant for medical treatment” and they fasted for several days, only consuming a Chinese tea.
The prosecutor said that Mrs Carr-Gomm announced that she had stopped taking her insulin on Monday October 17 which Xiao had “congratulated” her on.
He said: “He did nothing to alert others to the risk. He simply congratulated her and allowed a Type 1 diabetic to commence fasting without insulin.”
Mr Atkinson described how one of the participants saw that Mrs Carr-Gomm, by the Tuesday, “was vomiting and observed that her condition was similar to that on the earlier occasion in Bulgaria when she had stopped her insulin injections”.
One of her room-mates, Janine Stoodley, also moved out of their shared room because of her condition.
Mr Atkinson said that on the Wednesday, Mrs Carr-Gomm had not attended the workshop and she was seen to be “vomiting, tired and weak”.
He added that she was also “crying on her bed and howling in pain”.
She had also been moved from her bed to a mattress on the floor because she had fallen out of bed.
Mr Atkinson said that other participants interpreted her condition as a “healing crisis” – a term used by the defendant as the process of the Paida Lajin taking effect.
The prosecutor said: “He identifies the signs of a healing crisis as including pain, vomiting, insomnia, giddiness and loud crying.
“The description by others of a healing crisis is indicative of their reliance on Xiao’s leadership in dealing with Danielle Carr-Gomm’s condition.
“It also underlined that the decision to seek help, to intervene, had to come from the defendant as the others relied on him and his interpretation of what was happening.”
Mr Atkinson said that her condition worsened in the early hours of the Thursday and she then died.
He added: “Whilst she was conscious, she could have received medical care, including the administration of insulin, and this would have saved her.
“No-one was better placed than the defendant, the prosecution say, to make sure that this happened.”
He said that the sound of “Paida-like slapping” was heard coming from her room late on the Wednesday while the defendant was with her.
The prosecutor said that after Xiao was arrested, he said in interview that he had believed Mrs Carr-Gomm had been weak from fasting and had not needed an ambulance.
He added: “He denied that he had any influence over the students at all. He had no more responsibility than anyone else in attendance.”
The court heard that Mrs Carr-Gomm 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”.
Mr Atkinson said: “Xiao knew that Danielle Carr-Gomm by stopping her insulin injections had created a source of danger, and he was all too aware that it was a source of danger.
“He knew of his influence over her, he knew the consequences of her not taking her insulin, and he had at least influenced and encouraged her decision to take the potentially fatal step of stopping her insulin.”
Mr Atkinson said that Xiao had written a book on Paida Lajin in which he stated that “doctors are brainwashed by drug producers to act as salespersons for their drugs”.
In the book My Health, I Manage! E-Dao Paida And Lajin Self-Healing he states that the practice should be “safer and more reliable than existing healing practices … with no risk of poisoning or side effects” and that “it should be effective on almost all diseases”.
Mr Atkinson said: “The messages that come from this book, very clearly, are that the defendant viewed drugs such as insulin as poisons which were contrary to, rather than conducive to health.
“Insulin was a cause of problems, and that in contrast Paida Lajin was a cure for illness, including diabetes.”
Mr Atkinson said that Xiao told participants at his Australian seminar in 2015 that there was “no pain, no gain”.
Charles Row KC, defending Xiao, who denies the charge, told the jury that the defendant denied having a duty of care over Mrs Carr-Gomm who he had made “absolutely clear” to that he was not medically trained.
He said that Xiao had told her not to suddenly stop taking her insulin.
He added: “The defendant’s case is that Danielle Carr-Gomm was a law unto herself, a strong, driven and independent woman.
“The degree of influence he had over Danielle Carr-Gomm is very much an issue, as is the question of whether he assumed responsibility for her safety.”
Mr Row added that the defendant claimed that his actions were not causative of Mrs Carr-Gomm’s death and he had not breached a duty of care for her.
The trial continues.