Sunderland GP jailed for 31 years for trying to murder mum's partner with fake Covid booster in Newcastle
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA murderous GP has been jailed for more than 31 years for trying to kill his mother's partner by injecting him with a fake Covid booster jab laced with poison.
Thomas Kwan was working as a doctor at a North East surgery when he hatched a sinister plot to murder Patrick O'Hara, who he saw as an obstacle to him receiving his inheritance as early as he wanted, should anything happen to his mum.
Kwan disguised himself as a community nurse to carry out the audacious plot, which he had spent months meticulously planning, under the noses of his own mother and her long-term partner at their home in Newcastle city centre.
Having tricked 71-year-old Mr O'Hara, with faked NHS letters, into believing he was a nurse attending to administer an injection to protect him, he instead jabbed him with a substance that caused a flesh-eating disease and left him in intensive care. Police then found a disturbing collection of poisons and other material, including police guidelines on murder investigations, at the Sunderland-based GP's home at Brading Court, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton. He had also installed software on a computer he had gifted to his mum, so he could spy on them.
Kwan, 53, who admitted attempted murder, was jailed for 31 years and five months. Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Lambert said: “On the 22nd of January 2024 you went to the home your mother shared with her partner, Patrick O’Hara. You were in disguise, wearing a hat and tinted glasses and a surgical mask.
“You were masquerading as a community nurse attending to perform routine health checks on Mr O’Hara. Your intention was to administer a lethal injection of poison on the pretence of administering a Covid booster
“It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objective.
The judge said neither Kwan’s mother nor Mr O’Hara recognised him under his disguise. He also disguised his voice by speaking in broken English.
Mrs Justice Lambert said a search of his garage after his arrest revealed his “obsessive interest in poisons and toxic chemical harm”. He had obtained various poisons by setting up a shell company and he had a “library of material” on poisons and their effects, the judge said.
The judge added: “Your planning and preparation of this attempt to murder Mr O’Hara was detailed and extensive. The plan was active for at least three months but you had obtained lethal chemicals well before then. You also considered alternative ways of killing Mr O’Hara.”
Mrs Justice Lambert said Kwan was "obsessed by money" and added: “I’ve no doubt the reason you tried to kill Mr O’Hara was for financial gain.”
She referred to intercepted correspondence sent from Kwan to his wife from prison, showing his obsession with money. When he learned Mr O’Hara may bring a claim for compensation, he wrote: “Mother and elderly man wins and take all our hard earned money and home. We will have nothing. How could this be justice.”
The judge said Kwan he was prepared to kill to get what he thought he was entitled to and added: "By your masquerade you struck at the heart of public confidence in the healthcare system.”
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It was in the early hours of Monday January 22, Kwan left home in Ingelby Barwick in a Toyota Yaris which had been fitted with false registration plates. He arrived at The Gate car park in Newcastle at 2.31am and booked into The Premier Inn under the name John Chan.
At around 7.10am he went for breakfast, returning to his room about 20 minutes later. Two hours later he left his hotel room dressed very differently. He was wearing a long coat and a flat cap, he had blue surgical gloves on his hands and a clinical mask covering his face.
He then walked to his mother's home, arriving at 9.36am. Mr O'Hara described the man he believed to be a nurse as covered from head to toe and wearing surgical gloves and a mask. He was also wearing tinted spectacles.
Mr O'Hara was taken through a medical questionnaire and had his blood pressure checked and some blood taken. The court heart Kwan even took his mother blood pressure, at her request. She was oblivious to the fact the man she thought to be a stranger was in fact her son.
He then said he would give Mr O'Hara a Covid booster, at which point he felt immediate pain and Kwan quickly left. As he left the home, his mum came downstairs again and commented in passing that the nurse had been the same height as her son. Upon that comment, for the first time, Mr O’Hara began to suspect something was wrong.
The pain in his arm increased and he was given antibiotics and painkillers at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and sent home. When he awoke the next morning he found his arm was blistering and seriously discoloured. His GP sent him back to the hospital immediately, suspecting possible sepsis.
Doctors were baffled as to the cause of what they realised was a rare and life-threatening flesh-eating disease. He had surgery to try to stem the spread of the infection by cutting away "very considerable portions" diseased flesh on his arm in repeated procedures. Mr O’Hara ended up in intensive care for weeks.
Meanwhile a police investigation had begun and Kwan was traced on CCTV leaving his mother's home, heading back to the hotel then eventually home, having stopped for something to eat at Greggs. He was arrested and his home was searched. Many items were recovered, and it quickly became apparent his administration of poison to Mr O’Hara was the finale of a very careful plan and the culmination of a disturbing, long term, interest bordering on obsession, that Mr Kwan had with poisons and chemical toxins and their use in killing human beings.
In a detached garage close to the house, police found an array of chemicals of a toxic, corrosive or flammable, hazardous nature including liquid mercury, thallium, sulphuric acid and arsenic.
The medical and scientific findings do not allow certainty about what poison was administered. Kwan later said it was iodomethane, which is used predominantly as a fumigant pesticide.
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