Police search teams return to home of Tyneside poison plot doctor Thomas Kwan
Thomas Kwan admitted attempted murder charges last week.
by Naomi Corrigan, Sam Volpe · ChronicleLivePolice officers returned to search the home of Dr Thomas Kwan - days after the Sunderland-based GP admitted trying to kill his mother's partner.
Around 15 officers and two vans from Northumbria Police's Specialist Search Team could be seen at Brading Court, in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside on Tuesday. Teesside Live attended the scene and teams were seen searching the house and neighbouring garage but officers would not confirm why they were present.
Officers wearing blue plastic gloves, and some in overalls were going in and out of the property's garage carrying bags and checking through boxes. A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: "Our officers are in attendance at an address in the Ingleby Barwick area of Stockton. There is no wider risk to the public."
Plastic boxes and typical household items - such as a wheelie bin and lawn mower - could be seen in the garage. he "money-hungry" doctor faces sentencing after pleading guilty to attempting to kill Patrick O’Hara - his mother's long-term partner, who he was said to have seen as an an obstacle to his inheritance.
In February this year, neighbours living near Kwan's detached home on Brading Court had been left stunned when police, ambulance and fire crews flooded the quiet cul-de-sac. Kwan, who worked as a GP in Sunderland, will be sentenced on Thursday, October 17.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how, on January 22, the doctor disguised himself as a community nurse to carry out his twisted plot. Through fake NHS letters, Kwan had convinced 71-year-old Mr O'Hara that a community nurse was scheduled to administer his Covid booster shot at Kwan's mother's home on St Thomas Street, in Newcastle city centre. Mr O'Hara recalled seeing a man he assumed was a nurse, wearing surgical gloves, a mask and tinted glasses, the court was told.
Following a medical questionnaire, blood pressure check and a blood sample, Hong Kong-born Kwan even took his mother's blood pressure. Mr O'Hara was left fighting for his life in intensive care after being injected with a disease-causing agent.
Police later found an array of chemicals in Kwan's garage including liquid mercury, thallium, sulphuric acid and arsenic. Initially denying the charge of attempted murder at his trial, Kwan later changed his plea to guilty.
Neighbours have described the doctor as "private" and "reclusive" while expressing sympathy for family members left picking up the pieces. Kwan has been remanded in custody until sentencing.
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