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Healer jailed for selling 'cancer cure'
An alternative therapist who sold a treatment machine to a
dying man falsely claiming it would "kill" his cancer was
jailed for 12 months today.
Reginald Gill, 69, of Wilson Road, Bournemouth, was
convicted of making a false statement about services
provided to terminally ill Stephen Hall on May 10, 2002, and
supplying goods with a false description on May 17, 2002.
Sentencing Gill, Recorder Lorraine Morgan said: "Mr Hall was
a man in his early forties.
"A man in the prime of his life when he received the
diagnosis that he was suffering from a most severe form of
cancer. One can only imagine the fear he must have felt.
"You exploited that fear for your own financial gain."
She added: "On your false claims you must have filled the
last months of his life with false hope while you were
taking his money.
"You denied Mr Hall the brief opportunity to come to terms
with his fate."
Healer sold machine for £2,500
The trial at Bournemouth Crown Court earlier heard how Gill
provided four treatments to 43-year-old Mr Hall, a voice
coach of Flint, North Wales, using an IFAS high frequency
treatment machine.
He then sold the machine, which emits a high frequency
electric current at a low voltage, to Mr Hall for £2,500,
having bought it from an Australian company for under £200,
the court had heard.
Mr Hall's condition worsened and he died 10 weeks later,
leaving his widow Rhiannon.
The Recorder described the case as "most curious and
unusual".
She told Gill: "When I first began to hear this case, I
considered and wondered if you might be a sincere but
misguided eccentric.
"As the evidence has developed I did change my view.
"I find that in your evidence you demonstrated a disturbing
level of callousness and cynicism towards Mr Hall."
Gill, a former Royal Marine, denied he had told Mr Hall the
machine would cure his cancer. He claimed he told him it
would help the body heal itself.
Warning to 'alternative healers'
Mr Hall's mother, Sheila Cracknell, said outside court
that the case would serve as a warning to "so-called
alternative healers".
"My message to other so-called alternative healers is we are
on your case," she said.
"If you provide false hope to people with terminal
illnesses, be aware of the sentence that was just passed
on Mr Gill."
She added: "I feel justice was more than done today. I think
the judge gave considered thought to a very difficult case.
"My son was denied the chance to come to terms with his
illness because of the false hope.
"I have come to terms with the fact my son died. What we
wanted to do was save other families from going through the
horrendous time that we had."
Gill, speaking outside court before he was sentenced, said
he had trained in "healing and nutrition" while working as a
hospital cook and nutritionist in the army.
He said: "I never use the word cure. The body is metabolic.
If you find deficiencies in the body and understand that
it's the body that does the healing."
Gill said both he and his wife were disabled and that he
would appeal if he received a jail sentence.
He said: "I am appealing. I have got a new solicitor. The
prosecution told a pack of lies - the cost of the machine at
£200. I paid 4,800 dollars (£2,630) with a discount."
The case against the self-proclaimed "traditional healer",
formerly of Poole, Dorset, came to court after a complaint
was made to the Medical Devices Agency and Poole Borough
Council's trading standards department
--
Peter Bowditch
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