A DIABETIC grandmother died at a “self-healing” retreat in Seend, near Devizes, where attendees were slapped until they were black and blue.

Danielle Carr-Gomm was found dead in her bedroom just hours after taking part in a healing session at the country hotel.

Ms Carr-Gomm was taking part in a week-long self-healing workshop run by Chinese healer Hongchi Xiao where participants paid up to £750 to 'have toxins removed from the body' through hard, repeated slapping.

Other methods as part of the Paida-Lajin treatment include being stretched out on a bench and fasting for days.

Police are investigating the death of the 71-year-old from Lewes, who had type 1 diabetes.

She had previously told how she had stopped taking her life-saving insulin during sessions.

Her son Matthew, 43, said he hoped lessons could be learned from the death of his mother who he said had been “hoodwinked” by promises of a cure to the condition.

Wiltshire Police have arrested three people in connection with the divorced grandmother-of-four’s death which they have described as suspicious.

An inquest was opened and adjourned at Salisbury Coroner’s Court on Friday.

Ms Carr-Gomm was found dead at the 19th century Cleeve House near Devizes at 3am on Thursday, October 20, by a fellow workshop attendee who she was sharing a room with.

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said: “We are currently treating her death as suspicious and inquiries are ongoing.

“Three people – a 64-year-old woman, a 51-year-old man and a 53-year-old man – have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and have since been released on bail pending further inquiries.

"A post-mortem examination has been carried out but the results were inconclusive. We await further toxicology tests."

A funeral service for Ms Carr-Gomm, of Lewes, East Sussex, will be held in Brighton on Wednesday.

In a blog entry, Ms Carr-Gomm described attending a lajin course in Bulgaria and said "the results are totally astonishing and encouraging".

"After an initial sharing we began with administering paida on ourselves and on others in pairs or groups of three," she said.

"At the end of the first session large areas of my body were bruised and blue which indicated that a lot of 'sha' or poisoned blood and toxins had been released."