A healer has appeared in court after a grandmother was killed during a week-long ‘slap therapy’ workshop. Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, attended the workshop hosted by Hongchi Xiao at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in 2016.
Salisbury Magistrates’ Court today (Fri) heard that Xiao, 60, from California, told Mrs Carr-Gomm to stop taking her diabetes medication. He’s accused of encouraging her to use paida lajin – colloquially known as ‘slapping therapy’ – to treat her condition.
Xiao, who spoke only to confirm this name, age and address, during the brief hearing, faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter.
The court was told he was running a business purporting to provide “medical advice and assistance to members of the public”.
Danielle visited Cleeve House on October 20, 2016 to attend the ‘self-healing’ workshop, after embracing alternative medicines for her diabetes since she was first diagnosed in 1999.
She had struggled to inject insulin due to a fear of needles. The therapy, known as paida lajin, means slapping the skin in Mandarin, with ‘lajin’ involving adopting muscle stretching postures.
The method, which is linked to traditional Chinese concept of ‘sha’ – that poisoned blood full of toxins must be expelled – has been criticised for its lack of scientific basis.
Speaking after her death, Danielle’s son Matthew Carr-Gomm 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.”
Xiao was arrested and extradited from California to the UK. He was today remanded in custody to appear before Winchester Crown Court on January 3.
