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A practitioner of alternative healing, Hongchi Xiao from California, was released from prison after serving only 18 months of a 10-year sentence related to a manslaughter conviction. Xiao, aged 63, had been found guilty in 2024 for the gross negligence manslaughter of Danielle Carr-Gomm, a 71-year-old diabetic woman who died in 2016 while participating in one of his therapy workshops in Wiltshire. The sessions involved participants repeatedly slapping themselves or being slapped.
During a recent Court of Appeal hearing concerning an attempt to overturn Xiao’s conviction, it was revealed that he had already been returned to the United States and was no longer in custody. Lord Justice Dingemans noted that Xiao was sent back to the US under the Facilitated Return Scheme and the Early Release Scheme, with some information indicating his deportation occurred on 30 June 2026. The BBC has sought comments from the Ministry of Justice regarding this development. Xiao had originally been extradited from Australia for trial in the UK, following a prior prosecution there linked to the death of a six-year-old boy whose parents stopped his insulin treatment after attending Xiao’s workshop in Sydney.
At trial, details emerged about Danielle Carr-Gomm’s deteriorating condition during the therapy event, described as a Paida Lajin workshop meaning “slap and stretch.” Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1999, Carr-Gomm had sought alternative treatments to avoid insulin, driven by her vegetarian beliefs and fear of needles. During the course of the workshop, she reportedly became extremely unwell, exhibiting symptoms such as foaming at the mouth and intense pain, eventually dying on the fourth day. The court also heard that Carr-Gomm had previously praised Xiao, calling him a “messenger sent by God” who was “starting a revolution” to empower people to heal themselves and transform healthcare.
In the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Dingemans addressed concerns over the trial judge’s instructions to the jury about a waiver signed by Carr-Gomm. While acknowledging that the judge had misdirected the jury by suggesting the waiver could be decisive in a civil context, the judge maintained that this did not render the trial unfair or the verdict unsafe. He emphasized that a correct legal direction might have actually presented more challenges to Xiao’s defense by clarifying that the waiver held no legal validity. Consequently, the appeal against Xiao’s conviction was dismissed
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