Judge sends sheriff's officers to arrest rogue acupuncturist after another no-show

There was an empty chair in front of Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice Glen Noel on Tuesday, just as there has been every other time he's appeared in court on the matter of a disgraced acupuncturist with a disregard for court orders.

Xiao Hong Liu ghosted the proceedings again on Tuesday, after having been found in contempt of court twice for violating orders to stop practising acupuncture and skipping court proceedings.

Noel asked the sheriff's officer in the courtroom to page his colleagues and ask if they could see her anywhere else in the halls of the St. John's courthouse.

"Ms. Liu is not in the building," replied officer Mike Stanford. 

Noel turned to Ryan Belbin, the lawyer representing the Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals, the regulatory body overseeing acupuncturists.

"Do I have any other remedy to protect the public other than to have this absent respondent taken into custody?" Noel asked.

"At this point I don't know what it would take to stop this individual," Belbin responded. 

Noel then took action on a promise he'd made at the last court appearance in August, when he gave Liu one final chance to appear in court to explain her alleged actions.

"I'm ordering the sheriff's officers to take the respondent into custody," he said.

"Understood," Stanford replied.

Xiao Hong Liu has practised acupuncture in St. John's for decades, and did it legally for the majority of her career.

Things began to go off the rails in 2019, when someone lodged a complaint about the cleanliness of her business. 

When she refused to take part in the disciplinary process, her licence was suspended by the regulator.

When she continued to practise without a licence, the regulator secured a court-ordered injunction. When she still failed to stop practising, Noel found her in contempt of court and had her supplies seized in July 2023.