A 61-year-old man, Hongchi Xiao, of Cloudbreak in California, was charged with manslaughter by gross negligence after a 71-year-old woman, Danielle Carr-Gomm, died at a slapping therapy workshop he organised in Seend, Wiltshire, in 2016. During his trial at Winchester Crown Court, the prosecutor argued that Xiao had convinced Mrs Carr-Gomm, who had Type 1 diabetes, that insulin was “poison” and that her condition could be cured through his therapy. The prosecution highlighted that Xiao had promoted his methods as a “cure” for diabetes and claimed that they were “100% effective against Type 1 diabetes and its healing effects meant it was no longer necessary to take insulin”.
The court also heard that on the first day of the workshop in Wiltshire, Mrs Carr-Gomm had announced that she had stopped taking her insulin and had been congratulated by Xiao and others present for doing so. Alongside other attendees, Mrs Carr-Gomm began to fast, but by day three, she had become seriously unwell. The prosecutor said that Xiao had “repeated opportunities to see and advise her,” but he failed to tell her to take her insulin or call for medical assistance. By day four, Mrs Carr-Gomm had died of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Xiao was also convicted by an Australian court of manslaughter after leading a workshop in which a six-year-old boy with Type 1 diabetes became increasingly unwell with extreme symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis. Xiao had told the boy’s mother to stop injecting him with medication, claiming that the symptoms were part of “self-healing body adjustment”. The boy died as a “direct consequence” of not receiving insulin.
The trial continues, and the prosecutor has argued that Xiao’s “position of leadership and control over Mrs Carr-Gomm and her care as she declined and died” substantially contributed to her death and amounted to gross negligence. Xiao has pleaded not guilty to the charges of manslaughter by gross negligence
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