A “slap therapy” healer has been found guilty of the manslaughter of a woman who died at one of his workshops. Honghi Xiao has been convicted over the death of Danielle Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, a diabetic who stopped taking her insulin. Xiao, 61, from California, denied being linked to the death of Mrs Carr-Gomm, 71, who was left “howling in pain” at a therapy workshop.
A trial at Winchester Crown Court heard how Mrs Carr-Gomm described Xiao as a “messenger sent by God”. Danielle Carr-Gorman (Image: Wiltshire Police) The court heard she had been taking part in a Paida Lajin therapy workshop in which patients slap others and themselves repeatedly. Mrs Carr-Gomm stopped taking her insulin medication for Type 1 diabetes at the event in October, 2016, something Xiao “congratulated” her on.
The court had heard the alternative healer said “well done” to her after she told the group she had stopped taking her insulin at the week-long retreat. But she became seriously ill. Duncan Atkinson, prosecuting, said that 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”.
A chef at the workshop, Teresa Hayes, told jurors Mrs Carr-Gomm was “delirious” and “frothing at the mouth” before she died, adding that she wanted to call an ambulance but trusted those with more experience of the holistic healing method. Mr Atkinson said the defendant failed to get medical help for Mrs Carr-Gomm be.