Alternative healer told dying grandmother 'darkness comes before dawn'

Diabetic 'howling in pain' after she stopped taking insulin at therapy

• Danielle Carr-Gomm died at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016
• She was at a workshop run by Hongchi Xiao who she described as 'sent by God'
• The event promoted Paida Lajin therapy, which involves patients being slapped

An alternative healer told a diabetic grandmother 'darkness comes before dawn' as she lay dying at his slapping therapy retreat, a court heard.

The 71-year-old was left 'howling in pain' before she died, having stopped taking insulin at a workshop run by the healer she described as a 'messenger sent by God'.

Danielle Carr-Gomm died in October 2016 at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, where she was taking part in the event promoting Paida Lajin therapy - which involves patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.

Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, East Sussex.

Yesterday, jurors heard that the practitioner believes Western medicines are 'evil' and doctors 'brainwash' people into taking it.

Mrs Carr-Gomm became interested in trying alternative therapy because she was a vegetarian with a fear of needles - which are needed to inject insulin for diabetics.

Xiao told the 30-person workshop that there were three stages to the healing process in Paida lajin, and that illness is the'darkness before dawn breaks'.

However, the court heard that Mrs Carr-Gomm's condition became so bad after ditching insulin that she was seen to be 'vomiting, tired and weak'.

She was heard crying and howling in pain, and was found 'alone in bed, pale, sweaty, drooling at the mouth and unable to talk'.

Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, told the jury that the 30 people attending the workshop at Cleeve House were 'keen disciples' of the defendant who was described as 'Master Xiao' in the event's programme.

However, the prosecutor said that Mrs Carr-Gomm's condition became so bad after ditching insulin that she was seen to be 'vomiting, tired and weak'.

Mr Atkinson added that Xiao, 61, 'congratulated' Mrs Carr-Gomm on stopping taking insulin on Monday October 17.

Prosecutors allege Xiao 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.

The prosecutor went on to say that participants at Cleeve House signed a disclaimer form which stated the practice was not 'meant for medical treatment'.

Over the course of the retreat, they fasted for several days, only consuming a Chinese tea, and Xiao slapped them with him hand and a paddle.

The prosecutor described how one of the participants saw within a day that Mrs Carr-Gomm 'was vomiting and observed that her condition was similar to that on the earlier occasion in Bulgaria when she had stopped her insulin injections'.

One of her room-mates, Janine Stoodley, moved out of their shared room because of her condition.

Mr Atkinson said that on the Wednesday, Mrs Carr-Gomm had not attended the workshop because of illness and was 'crying on her bed and howling in pain'.

She had also been moved from her bed to a mattress on the floor after falling out of bed.

Court heard that other participants interpreted her condition as a 'healing crisis' - a term used by the defendant as the process of the Paida Lajin taking effect.

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

'The description by others of a healing crisis is indicative of their reliance on Xiao's leadership in dealing with Danielle Carr-Gomm's condition.

'It also underlined that the decision to seek help, to intervene, had to come from the defendant as the others relied on him and his interpretation of what was happening.'

He added: '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 Pajin but it is in fact, he says, the result of the toxins leaving the body.'

Mr Atkinson said that her condition worsened in the early hours of the Thursday and she then died.

He added: 'Whilst she was conscious, she could have received medical care, including the administration of insulin, and this would have saved her.

'No-one was better placed than the defendant, the prosecution say, to make sure that this happened.'

Paramedics were finally called at 2.54am on Thursday 20th, in cardiac arrest, lying on a mattress on the floor. The court heard Rigor mortis was already established, and she was confirmed to be dead at 3.11am.

He said that the sound of 'Paida-like slapping' was heard coming from her room late on the Wednesday while the defendant was with her.

The prosecutor said that after Xiao was arrested, he said in interview that he had believed Mrs Carr-Gomm had been weak from fasting and had not needed an ambulance.

He added: 'He denied that he had any influence over the students at all. He had no more responsibility than anyone else in attendance.'

The court heard that Mrs Carr-Gomm had provided a testimonial for Xiao describing him as a 'messenger sent by God' who 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'.

Mr Atkinson said: 'Xiao knew that Danielle Carr-Gomm, by stopping her insulin injections, had created a source of danger, and he was all too aware that it was a source of danger.

'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 said that Xiao had written a book on Paida Lajin in which he stated that 'doctors are brainwashed by drug producers to act as salespersons for their drugs'.

In the book My Health, I Manage! E-Dao Paida And Lajin Self-Healing he states that the practice should be 'safer and more reliable than existing healing practices ... with no risk of poisoning or side effects' and that 'it should be effective on almost all diseases'.

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.

Mr Atkinson said: 'The messages that come from this book, very clearly, are that the defendant viewed drugs such as insulin as poisons which were contrary to, rather than conducive to health.

'Insulin was a cause of problems, and that in contrast Paida Lajin was a cure for illness, including diabetes.'

Mr Atkinson said that Xiao told participants at an Australian seminar in 2015 that there was 'no pain, no gain'.

Charles Row KC, defending Xiao, who denies the charge, told the jury that the defendant denied having a duty of care over Mrs Carr-Gomm who he had made 'absolutely clear' to that he was not medically trained.

He said that Xiao had told her not to suddenly stop taking her insulin.

He added: 'The defendant's case is that Danielle Carr-Gomm was a law unto herself, a strong, driven and independent woman.

'The degree of influence he had over Danielle Carr-Gomm is very much an issue, as is the question of whether he assumed responsibility for her safety.'

Mr Row added that the defendant claimed that his actions were not causative of Mrs Carr-Gomm's death and he had not breached a duty of care for her.

The three-week trial, which began on Monday, continues.