A QUACK doctor who charged thousands of pounds to 'treat' a woman's cancer with baking soda injections is facing jail.

American Robert O Young, described as the father of the alkaline diet, told Naima Houder-Mohamed, of Poole, she would have to pay in advance for her treatment before boarding the plane to his 'pH Miracle Ranch' in California.

She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, the year after she was commissioned as a captain in the British Army. In 2012, after a brief remission, her cancer returned in a more aggressive form.

Desperate for a cure, the 27-year-old discovered Young on the internet. Altogether her family raised around £70,000 to fund her treatment that same year.

But after only around three months at the ranch she had to be taken to hospital, and she was then returned to the UK where she died with her family.

Her brother, Rachid Houder, who co-founded Poole firm Pure Warrior in her memory, said: "The worst thing is her final three months were very precious to us and we lost those.

"My sister was a very intelligent girl with a Master's science degree, who were we to say to her that she can't visit this man who could potentially cure her or at least extend her life.

"The guy is going to be put away now, so there will be some kind of retribution."

Young, who has now been convicted of practising medicine without a licence, has sold millions of books on his theory - which claims disease results from too much acid in the body causing blood cells to transform into bacteria. To 'cure' his patients he would inject them with sodium bicarbonate.

He could be jailed for more than three years.

Mr Houder said of his sister: "She was a very strong, beautiful young woman. We want to keep her name alive."

Sandhurst graduate Capt Houder-Mohamed grew up in Canford Heath and went to Parkstone Grammar School.

She became a qualified mountain leader in 2006, gaining advanced status in 2009. She ran expeditions in Kenya, Morocco and France. She undertook Nordic skiing and biathlon and did training exercises in Scotland and Poland.

She served with 22 Engineer Regiment and 1 Royal Anglian, and was set to go to Afghanistan but her illness prevented this.

At her military funeral at Kinson cemetery in 2012, her commanding officer Colonel Rob Davie said: "She readily sought out new challenges and tackled them with enthusiasm and a steely determination to succeed.

"She worked tirelessly for her people and that reflected the motto of Sandhurst – Serve to Lead."