How pensioner fell under the spell of crank healing guru she called ‘messenger sent by God’

Daniel Carr Gomm was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1998 and has spent the better part of two decades searching for alternative ways to control the disease.

Struggling to find a treatment that would make her life more bearable, in July 2016 she turned to the Paida Lajing Workshop (also known as slapping therapy), run by California-based alternative therapist Hongchi Xiao.

Rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, slap therapy is described as a self-healing philosophy in which patients are slapped or slap themselves repeatedly for hours to rid themselves of toxins and illnesses.

Despite criticism that his work had no scientific basis, the defendant called himself “Master Xiao” and invited 30 “enthusiastic apprentices” to join him in his workshop at Cleeve House, Wiltshire, in October that year.

Among them was 71-year-old Kah-Ghom, who duly signed a disclaimer stating that the practice was “not for medical purposes”, fasted for several days and drank only Chinese tea.

The vegetarian pensioner, who was desperate to find an unconventional way to cure her diabetes because she is afraid of needles, previously wrote that she was impressed with his holistic treatment and saw it as a sign of “freedom from years of slavery”.

When she revealed during a workshop a few months ago that she had suddenly fallen ill and had stopped taking insulin, despite the risks to her health, Mr. Xiao congratulated her.

In an ominous sign of the power Dr Xiao wielded over her, Karl Gomm had previously testified, describing Dr Xiao as a “messenger sent from God” who was “putting the power to heal themselves back into people’s hands and starting a revolution that is changing the entire healthcare system.”

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the court during the manslaughter trial: “Hsiao knew that by stopping Daniel Carr-Gham’s insulin injections he created a source of danger and he was very aware that this was a source of danger.”

“He knew the influence he had over her and he knew the consequences of her not taking her insulin, and at the very least, he influenced and encouraged her to make the potentially fatal decision to discontinue her insulin.”

Xiao, of Cloudbreak, California, was convicted of homicide by gross negligence by a jury in Winchester Criminal Court on Friday.

Although slap therapy is not based on science, Xiao wrote a book about it, saying “doctors are brainwashed by pharmaceutical companies and act as salesmen for their drugs.”

Mr Atkinson said: “The message that comes across from this book is very clear: the defendants viewed drugs such as insulin not as beneficial to health, but rather as unhealthy poisons.”

“Insulin was the cause of the problem; in contrast, paidra radish was a treatment for diseases, including diabetes.”

Kargom’s death isn’t the first time his methods have come under scrutiny. In 2015, he was charged in Australia with the manslaughter of a six-year-old boy who died after his parents took him to his Sydney workshop. The boy, who had type 1 diabetes, fell fatally ill after his parents stopped giving him insulin. The judge at Xiao’s subsequent trial in Australia concluded that he had told the boy’s mother to stop giving him the injections.

During a stay at his workshop in Bulgaria, Kar-Gom became extremely ill after stopping the injections and had to be persuaded to start the medication again.

Atkinson said both the child’s death and the incident in Bulgaria “are indicative of her [Ms Carr-Gomm’s] Lives became increasingly endangered.

“So instead of convincing diabetics to stop putting their lives at risk, he chose to congratulate them for stopping injections.”

Even when her condition deteriorated and became serious during her recent recuperation, Ms Xiao did not request medical assistance, despite being found “crying and screaming” in bed.

By the third day she was vomiting, feeling fatigued and weak, crying out in pain in the evening and unable to answer questions, the court heard.

Medical assistance was finally sought on the fourth day, October 20th, but by that time it was too late and she died of diabetic ketoacidosis as a direct result of her decision to stop taking insulin injections.

The night before her death, she was fed mashed couscous and was seen drooling and speaking incoherently, while sounds of slapping and “very loud sounds of distress, like screams” were heard from her bedroom.

A chef who attended the retreat said he observed workshop participants hitting themselves for up to five to six hours a day with cupped hands, hitting different parts of their bodies “pretty hard” until marks were left on their skin.

After his arrest, Xiao told police during questioning that he didn’t think Ka Gom needed an ambulance because she was weak from fasting.

“The defendant denies having any influence over the students. He is no more responsible than anyone else who was present,” the prosecutor said.

Kar-Gom’s desperate efforts to cure the illness that has plagued her entire adult life have paid the ultimate price.

Speaking after the verdict, Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crimes unit, said: “Hongqi Xiao knew that if Daniel Carr Gom decided to stop taking his insulin the consequences could be fatal – he had seen it before.”

“As a person in charge, Xiao Hongqi failed to respond to Ms. Ke Gong’s deteriorating condition, which led to tragic consequences. His failure to take appropriate measures to assist Ms. Ke Gong contributed significantly to her death and constitutes gross negligence.”

Xiao is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1st.