Wife of Sunderland GP convicted in poison plot vows to wait for him despite 31-year sentence
by Kathryn Riddell, Jeremy Armstrong · ChronicleLiveThe wife of GP Thomas Kwan, who was sentenced to 31 years for attempted murder, has pledged her unwavering support for him.
Despite the fact that Kwan, 53, will have to serve more than 20 years before being eligible for parole, his wife has launched an extraordinary defence of her husband of 14 years, stating she will be waiting for him upon his release.
The once-respected GP who worked in Sunderland disguised himself as a community nurse to inject his mother's partner with the pesticide iodomethane. However, in her first interview about the shocking crime, his wife told the Mirror: "I don't believe he intended to kill him."
Victim Patrick O'Hara, 72, continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to his ordeal.
Kwan travelled from his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, to his mother Jenny Leung's Newcastle city centre residence on January 22. He administered the poison to Patrick after arranging a Covid vaccine appointment using counterfeit NHS letterheads.
Kwan's wife, who has not been identified, said: "I really cannot find a man to compare to Tom, in his heart he is very, very good. I don't blame him – I love him, trust him, and will be here for him until the end. I am going to be buried alongside him," reports the Mirror.
"Our son goes with me to prison to see Tom. I tell him everything and I hope he will understand his dad."
Kwan changed his plea to guilty on October 7, after his trial at Newcastle Crown Court had begun. His wife revealed he had been attacked while on remand in jail, adding: "He decided that he wanted to get all this over with."
In the courtroom on Wednesday, Mrs Justice Christina Lambert handed down a sentence to Kwan, stating that she firmly believed his motive was monetary gain. The high-earning GP's mother had concocted a new will allowing Patrick to reside in her Newcastle home in the event of her death, consequently postponing Kwan’s inheritance.
Kwan’s wife recounted a change in her husband's behaviour just before the Christmas period of the previous year when he orchestrated the attempt on his mother’s life. She revealed: "He was very nervous, he was sweating at night. He was not sociable, he liked to work but he did not have any social life, he is a very private man. Our married life was very, very happy, he was a very good doctor. I think he had a mental illness but as a GP, he did not want to book an appointment to seek help."
She expressed her resolve to remain with her spouse despite cutting off contact with his mother, explaining that her husband yearned for more affection from her.
His wife further disclosed Kwan’s experiences of bullying in school, stating: "He felt very lonely and helpless. All his life, he was looking for his mother's love and never found it.
"He always believed that she loved others more than her own child. I feel so sorry for Tom, that is why I will wait for him and give him a good life in the end. If I leave him, his life will be too sad, I cannot do that to him."
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