A man in the UK has been sentenced to 10 years in jail, plus a five-year extended licence period after advocating ‘slapping therapy’ which led to the death of a woman at one of his healing camps. The man, identified as Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter of 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm who visited his week-long retreat at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016. While handing out the sentence, Justice Robert Bright at the Winchester Crown Court held Mr Xiao responsible for Ms Carr-Gomm’s “untimely death” which was a “tragedy for her and all of those who loved her”.

“You failed to summon emergency medical care when you of all people knew she was likely to die without insulin,” said Mr Bright, adding: “I consider you dangerous even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders.”

Ms Carr-Gomm was a diabetes patient since 1998 and had sought alternatives to her insulin medication due to her fear of needles. Mr Xiao promoted paida lajin (meaning “slapping and stretching”) therapy in which patients slapped themselves repeatedly to release “poisonous waste” from the body. The technique finds mention in Chinese medicine but doctors say it has no scientific basis and often leaves the patients bruised, bleeding or in some cases, dead.

As Ms Carr-Gomm stopped taking insulin at Mr Xiao’s insistence, her health deteriorated. By day three, she was “vomiting, tired and howling in pain”, according to the prosecutors. Despite her condition, Mr Xiao did not summon an emergency medical team.

Also Read | Man Pleads Not Guilty After Woman Dies At “Slapping Therapy” Workshop In UK

‘Complex investigation’

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Walker of the Major Crime Investigation Team said he was glad that the case had come to an end after a long-drawn eight-year legal battle.

“This has been an extremely complex investigation, with nearly eight years having passed since Danielle’s sad death. This passage of time, which has been out of our control, has of course added further challenges and complications to the investigation, but I am pleased that a custodial sentence has now been given to Xiao,” Mr Walker told reporters outside the court.

Notably, Mr Xiao was extradited for trial from Australia where he had been prosecuted for the death of a six-year-old boy who also succumbed after his parents withdrew his insulin medication, based on the defendant’s workshop in Sydney. Throughout the trial, Mr Xiao pleaded not guilty.

London:

An alternative healer was on Friday found guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of a diabetic woman who died from medical complications at a “slapping therapy” workshop in the UK.

Hongchi Xiao, 60, from Cloudbreak, California, was convicted following a trial at a court in Winchester, southern England.

He was charged in November following the death of Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, who was taking part in a session at a hotel to help her diabetes in October 2016.

The pensioner died at a “paida lajin” workshop, which involves patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.

Prosecutors told the court the alternative healer breached his duty of care towards Carr-Gomm by failing to take reasonable steps to ensure medical assistance when she was suffering from a “medical crisis”, namely ketoacidosis.

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious condition that can happen in people with diabetes due to a lack of insulin and requires urgent medical treatment.

Xiao, who was born in China, was extradited to the UK from Australia.

Carr-Gomm, who was described by her family as an avid follower of holistic medicine and alternative therapies, was born in France and moved to the UK at the age of 21.

She was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999 but struggled to inject insulin because of a fear of needles.

The head of the Crown Prosecution’s special crime division, Rosemary Ainslie, said: “Hongchi Xiao knew the consequences of Danielle Carr-Gomm’s decision to stop taking insulin could be fatal, he had seen it before.

“Hongchi Xiao was the man in charge, yet he failed to respond to Mrs Carr-Gomm’s worsening condition with tragic consequences.

“His failure to take reasonable steps to help Mrs Carr-Gomm substantially contributed to her death and amounted to gross negligence.”

Xiao will be sentenced on October 1.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)