‘Dangerous’ alternative healer jailed over slapping therapy retreat death ‘likely to continue practice’
Hongchi Xiao failed to get medical help for diabetic Danielle Carr-Gomm who died after she stopped taking insulin at his Paida Lajin therapy event
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A judge jailing a “dangerous” alternative healer over the death of a diabetic woman at his slapping therapy workshop warned there “is a significant risk history will again repeat itself”.
Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, was “howling in pain” and “frothing at the mouth” before she died on the fourth day of the Paida Lajin therapy event in October 2016, where patients are slapped or slap themselves repeatedly.
A court heard the pensioner had wanted to call an ambulance but the defendant, who she believed was a “messenger sent by God”, failed to get medical help after telling her “well done” when she said she was no longer taking her insulin medication.
Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak in California, was convicted in July by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Carr-Gomm, from Lewes in East Sussex.
The 61-year-old was extradited for the trial from Australia, where he had previously been prosecuted over the death of a six-year-old boy who also died after his parents withdrew his insulin medication after attending the defendant’s workshop in Sydney.
Xiao was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Winchester Crown Court on Friday. He was also sentenced to a further five years on extended licence after his time in prison.
Passing the sentence, the judge issued a warning about the serious dangers posed by the “undiminished belief” in Paida Lajin that was still held by Xiao and his supporters.
Judge Mr Justice Bright told the defendant: “I am certain that when you finish serving your sentence there is a significant risk history will again repeat itself – this constitutes serious harm to members of the public. In this specific regard I consider you dangerous, even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders.”
The judge described Xiao as showing “no real sign of clear remorse” because he continues to practice and promote Paida Laijin in prison.
He told the defendant: “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.”
He added that Xiao made a “token effort” to get Carr-Gomm to take her insulin, which was too little, too late.
Jurors were told Carr-Gomm, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1999, had sought alternatives to her insulin medication because of her vegetarianism and fear of needles.
The court heard 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 healthcare”.
She joined the Paida Lajin workshop, which means “slap and stretch”, run by Xiao at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016, having attended another in Bulgaria in July, where she also stopped her insulin medication and became seriously ill before recovering.
The court had heard Xiao said “well done” to Carr-Gomm 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 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 had received and accepted the defendant’s teachings misinterpreted Carr-Gomm’s condition as a healing crisis.”
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.”
Carr-Gomm was born in France and moved to the UK aged 21.
After 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.”
The head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, Rosemary Ainslie, said after the verdict in July that “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 Carr-Gomm’s worsening condition, with tragic consequences.
“His failure to take reasonable steps to help Carr-Gomm substantially contributed to her death and amounted to gross negligence.”
Detective chief inspector Phil Walker, of the Major Crime Investigation Team at Wiltshire Police, said: “[Xiao] had no medical qualifications, yet despite this was actively encouraging those in attendance at his workshops to refrain from taking their regular medication, knowing full well the consequences.
“Xiao’s not-guilty plea has only shown the little remorse he has over Danielle’s death and has made an already extremely difficult and upsetting process for Danielle’s family even more prolonged and distressing.”