GRAN 'KILLED BY HEALER' THOUGHT HE WAS 'SENT FROM GOD', COURT HEARS

A diabetic grandmother who was killed by an alternative healer at his 'slap therapy' retreat viewed him as a 'messenger sent by God', a court heard today.

Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, 'admired' and wrote glowing testimonials about Hongchi Xiao, the holistic therapist who is accused of allowing her to die from a lack of insulin.

Prosecutors today said Mrs Carr-Gomm believed the practitioner - who jurors have been told had an 'unshakable' belief that Western medicine was evil - was 'starting a revolution' to 'change the whole system of health care'.

He was referred to as 'Master Xiao' at the Wiltshire workshop where Mrs Carr-Gomm died and prosecutors described his participants as his 'keen disciples'.

Prosecutors allege Xiao, 61, knew he wielded 'influence' over Mrs Carr-Gomm when he praised her for stopping taking her insulin.

They say that Xiao knew of the consequences of a type 1 diabetic not taking their insulin because Mrs Carr-Gomm became extremely unwell at a previous workshop and because a six year old boy died during another of his retreats.

Xiao is standing trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, accused of manslaughter following Mrs Carr-Gomm's death at his at four-day paida lajin course at Cleeve House in Melksham, Wilts, in October 2016.

Paida lajin means 'slap and stretch' in Chinese, and practitioners like Xiao - who has no medical qualifications - believe the practice of slapping people in various positions can cure diseases and ailments.

Today prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said Mrs Carr-Gomm previously attended a workshop of Xiao's in Bulgaria and left him testimonials, despite becoming extremely unwell after stopping taking insulin and having to be given it.

In one left on his website, she said: 'You are definitely messenger sent by God.'

She said he Xiao 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.'

She added: 'I admire you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.'

Mrs Carr-Gomm sought out alternative therapy as she was a vegetarian with a fear of needles.

Mr Atkinson KC said participants at the Wiltshire workshop interpreted Mrs Carr-Gomm's worsening condition as a 'healing crisis'.

Xiao told the 30-person workshop that there were three stages to the healing process in paida lajin and that illness like Mrs Carr-Gomm's was 'darkness before dawn breaks'.

Participants fasted and only drank Chinese tea. At classes, Xiao slapped them using his hand and a paddle.

Over the course of the retreat, Mrs Carr-Gomm was heard 'crying' and 'howling in pain', then found 'alone in bed, pale, sweaty, drooling at the mouth and unable to talk'.

Mr Atkinson KC said: 'It was noted by others on the course that Mrs Carr-Gomm was not present on Wednesday 19th October.

'Those who did see her could see that she was vomiting, tired and weak. She did drink some tea.

'On the evening of Wednesday 19th, Mrs Carr-Gomm was heard by [Teresa] Hayes to be screaming. She was crying on her bed and howling in pain. She was unable to respond to questions.

'Various of those who saw Mrs Carr-Gomm during the course of Wednesday 19th, for example [roommates Janine Stoodley and Claudia Smith], interpreted her condition as a healing crisis.

'This is a condition addressed by Xiao in his book. He suggests that it might appear that an illness has intervened as a result of paida lajin but it is in fact, he says, the result of the toxins leaving the body.

'He identifies the signs of a healing crisis as including pain, vomiting, insomnia, giddiness and loud crying.

'In the early hours of Thursday 20th, it became clear to those at Cleeve House that Mrs Carr-Gomm's condition had become even worse, and then that she had died.

'Paramedics were finally called at 2.54am on Thursday 20th. They found [her] in cardiac arrest, lying on a mattress on the floor of her room. Rigor mortis was already established, and she was confirmed to be dead at 3.11am.'

Mr Atkinson KC added: 'The evidence from those who were present that Xiao was in charge of the workshop more generally, and was providing guidance to DCG's behaviour at the workshop more particularly, that demonstrates his responsibility for her whilst she was at the workshop.

'It is also clear that she relied on him and his guidance in relation to her care.

'In relation to the testimonial that Mrs Carr-Gomm provided for the defendant, of which Xiao can be taken to have been aware given that it was on his website, it is also relevant that there is no evidence that he sought correct her beliefs.

'[Her beliefs] that she would be in 'good hands' with Xiao, that 'diabetes was one of the 'names' he had confidence in tackling' and that he had told her 'that although high glucose levels were never a big problem, he did not agree that [she] should suddenly stop taking insulin injections'.'

Mr Atkinson KC said it showed Xiao had a duty of care

'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 KC said.

'As a result, the prosecution contends that Xiao owed [her] a duty to remedy her hyperglycaemic state by either persuading her to take insulin or

summoning medical help... there is no evidence that he did any such thing.

'Xiao was, and would have recognised that he was, in charge and being relied on by others and that his teachings, which are without either medical support or support from the Chinese alternative medical profession, provided the context for a vulnerable women to make a catastrophic decision that he took no step to reverse.

'That failure therefore represented a substantial cause of Mrs Carr-Gomm's death, a death that was reasonably foreseeable to someone in Xiao's position, and the result of such a significant breach of the duty of care he owed to [her] to represent gross negligence.'

Xiao, from Cloudbreak, California, denies manslaughter.

The court has heard he believes medicines are 'evil' and that doctors 'brainwash' people into prescribing them medication.

The three week trial continues.

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2024-07-02T12:33:50Z dg43tfdfdgfd