Alternative healer jailed over death at slapping therapy workshop

An alternative healer was jailed for 10 years over the death of a diabetic woman who stopped taking her insulin at his slapping therapy workshop.
Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of the gross negligence manslaughter of 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm at a week-long retreat at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016.
Xiao was sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus a five-year extended licence period, at Winchester Crown Court.
The judge, Mr Justice Bright, said Mrs Carr-Gomm's "untimely death was a tragedy for her and all of those who loved her".
The court previously heard she was one of 30 "keen disciples" who attended the paida lajin therapy event, which sees patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.
Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1998 and had sought alternatives to her insulin medication because of her vegetarianism and fear of needles.
Xiao claimed his method could cure nearly all diseases, including diabetes, and the severe bruising caused by the slapping showed toxins being released from the body.
Prosecutors said the therapist, from Cloudbreak, California - referred to as "Master Xiao" in the programme for the workshop - knew she was risking death but said "well done" after she told the group she had stopped taking her insulin.
The jury was told he then failed to seek medical help for her when became seriously ill and was "crying on her bed and howling in pain" before she died of diabetic ketoacidosis on the fourth day of the course.
The judge said Xiao had shown "no real sign of clear remorse" as he continues to practice and promote paida lajin in prison.
"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," he said. "Furthermore you made it clear to her you supported this."
Xiao was extradited to face trial from Australia, where he had previously been convicted of the manslaughter of a six-year-old boy who died in April 2015 - 16 months before Mrs Carr-Gomm - when his parents stopped giving him his insulin after attending one of Xiao's workshops in Sydney.
The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: www.judiciary....
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