Slapping therapist guilty of manslaughter

Danielle Carr-Gomm's fear of needles is what drove her to finding alternative remedies

An alternative healer has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter following the death of a woman at one of his workshops.

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

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

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

Mr Justice Robert Bright said the jury asked lots of questions and were a "shining example" of the jury system that "we should all be proud of".

Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes in East Sussex, had Type 1 diabetes, meaning she had to take insulin every day to keep her blood glucose levels under control.

Yet she had a lifelong fear of needles and had frequently sought other ways to deal with the disease.

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

Paida lajin, which means "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 delivered glowing testimonials, the court heard.

'Howling in pain'

She decided to attend another of Xiao’s 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 she had stopped taking her insulin, which Xiao “congratulated” her on.

Alongside other attendees she began to fast, but soon fell seriously unwell, "tired", "weak and "howling in pain" by day three.

By day four, Mrs Carr-Gomm had died of diabetic ketoacidosis.

Xiao is due to be sentenced on 1 October

The court case against Xiao hinged on whether he had a duty of care towards Mrs Carr-Gomm and whether he could reasonably have foreseen her death.

Giving evidence in his own defence, Xiao said he was not the organiser of the Wiltshire workshop but was paid a fee for leading it.

The former banker also stressed many times 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 he taught to others, and repeatedly said he would never tell people to stop taking medicine suddenly.

But the prosecution maintained the high regard in which Mrs 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 meet".

Xiao's second conviction

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

Ms Carr-Gomm had previously stopped taking her medication at the Bulgaria conference in 2016.

On that occasion she started vomiting but Xiao successfully persuaded her to restart insulin and she recovered.

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

Xiao was jailed in Australia as a result and banned from offering any medical treatment.

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

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

Hongchi Xiao (r) led the workshop that saw patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly

Wiltshire Police told BBC News the case had been unusually complex because of Xiao's imprisonment in Australia and the fact witnesses were spread across the world.

Det Ch Insp Phil Walker said: "He believes so strongly in what he was practising... but he was aware not taking insulin was dangerous from his previous experiences and knowledge of Ms Carr-Gomm in particular.

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

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

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

Xiao has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 1 October.

'Failed to respond'

Following the verdict, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's 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 Mrs Carr-Gomm's worsening condition with tragic consequences.

"His failure to take reasonable steps to help Mrs Carr-Gomm substantially contributed to her death and amounted to gross negligence."

Det Phil Walker of Wiltshire Police said: “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.

“Danielle was a mother and a grandmother who enjoyed life and had a love of travelling – her death came as a huge shock to her family and friends and our thoughts are very much with them at this time.”