Pictured: Mother of evil GP Thomas Kwan who disguised himself as a nurse to poison her partner with fake Covid jab in bid to stop him inheriting her estate
An evil GP today admitted attempting to kill his mothers partner by disguising himself as a community nurse and poisoning him with a fake Covid booster jab in a row over inheritance.
An evil GP today admitted attempting to kill his mothers partner by disguising himself as a community nurse and poisoning him with a fake Covid booster jab in a row over inheritance.
Thomas Kwan, 53, wore a bizarre disguise consisting of a fake beard and hairpiece before administering the poison-laced injection to his mother Jenny Leungs partner Patrick OHara at the home they shared in Newcastle.
Kwan wanted to inherit his mothers home but they had fallen out after she decided she wanted to give it to her partner of 20 years instead.
The money obsessed GP hoarded the ingredients for ricin and was initially believed to have used the chemical weapon in the attack on January 22 but police now believe it was more likely a pesticide.
Mr OHara, 72, developed a rare flesh-eating disease from the injection but narrowly survived. Kwan had initially denied attempted murder but changed his plea after he heard the prosecution open the case against him last week.
Kwans mother, Wai King - also known as Jenny Leung - is pictured outside court during an earlier hearing
Thomas Kwan, 53, has admitted trying to murder Patrick OHara at the home he shared with the doctors mother in Newcastle
Kwan is seen in a selfie wearing a disguise of a fake hairpiece, beard and moustache. He took this selfie in order to create a fake ID under the name Raj Patel
Prosecutors described how Kwan was estranged from Ms Leung after falling out with her over her plans to leave her home to Mr OHara, who she had been in a relationship with for more than 20 years.
The effect of the will was that the property would not go to Ms Leungs children until after Mr OHaras death, Peter Makepeace KC said.
On November 15, 2022, Kwan pushed past Mr OHara to get into his mothers home and began grilling her about the will. Mr OHara called police and Kwan was given a warning.
Kwan, a partner and practising GP at the Happy House surgery in Sunderland, went back to his £300,000 home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, where he lived with his wife and young son, to devise a plot to kill him.
The Hong Kong-born doctor had developed an encyclopaedic knowledge of poisons, the court heard, and he studied how to get away with murder, police discovered from analysis of his home computers.
Kwan sparked a major emergency services operation when police found lethal chemicals stored in the detached garage of his family home.
The prosecution described him as money-obsessed and said he even installed spyware on his mothers laptop so he could monitor her finances.
Before pleading guilty to attempted murder today, the Sunderland-based GP had already pleaded guilty to administering a noxious substance, claiming he meant to cause no more than mild pain.
The Crowns case was that he meant to kill his mothers partner of more than 20 years, who developed a rare flesh-eating disease as a result of the jab in his arm.
Opening the case on Thursday, Peter Makepeace KC, prosecuting, said: Mr Thomas Kwan, the defendant in the case, was in January of this year a respected and experienced medical doctor in general practice with a GPs surgery based in Sunderland.
From November 2023 at the latest, and probably long before then, he devised an intricate plan to kill his mothers long-term partner, a man called Patrick OHara.
On any view, that man had done absolutely nothing to offend Mr Kwan in any way whatsoever.
He was, however, a potential impediment to Mr Kwan inheriting his mothers estate upon her death.
Mr Kwan used his encyclopaedic knowledge of, and research into, poisons to carry out his plan.
That plan was to disguise himself as a community nurse, attend Mr OHaras address, the home he shared with the defendants mother, and inject him with a dangerous poison under the pretext of administering a Covid booster injection.
Kwan, 53, a partner at a surgery in Sunderland, is seen in CCTV footage arriving at a Premier Inn in Newcastle wearing a heavy disguise
The GP, who wore a hat, tinted spectacles, gloves and a surgical mask, is seen checking into the hotel
Emergency services outside Kwans £300,000 home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, earlier this year
Police officers were seen carrying boxes of evidence away from the large property
Kwan getting out of his car (middle) after arriving at the underground car park in Newcastle on the day of the attempted murder
The GP, who carried a large bag, is seen making his way up the stairs
Kwan forged NHS documentation to set up the home visit, disguised himself, used false number plates for the journey to Newcastle and booked in to a city centre hotel using a false name.
Kwans mother, Jenny Leung, named Mr OHara in her will to the effect that he could stay in her house in St Thomas Street, Newcastle, should she die before her partner.
A furious Kwan wrote to Mr OHara last November claiming to be a community nurse called Raj Patel and offered him a home visit.
Mr Makepeace said: As, I suspect, would any of us, Mr OHara fell for it hook, line and sinker, he had not the slightest suspicion that this was anything other than a genuine NHS community care initiative which he warmly welcomed and was grateful for.
Kwan was caught on CCTV checking into a Premier Inn in Newcastle wearing his disguise.
He later went to his mothers house in a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves and wearing a medical mask and tinted glasses, and carried out a 45-minute examination on Mr OHara, and even checked his unsuspecting mothers blood pressure when she asked.
Kwan, in what the court heard was broken English with an Asian accent, told Mr OHara he needed a Covid booster, even though he had only had one three months ago.
Mr OHara shouted in pain when it was administered and Kwan quickly packed his equipment and left, reassuring his victim that a reaction was not uncommon.
A close up of the doctors face as he was walking up the stairs without a mask om
A heavily disguised Kwan walking into his room after checking in
He later walked across Newcastle and arrived at his mothers home at around 10am, introducing himself as the expected nurse
The pain continued and Mr OHara began to suspect something had gone badly wrong.
The next day his arm had blistered and was seriously discoloured and medics at hospital were baffled.
He had developed the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis and needed to have part of his arm cut away to stop it spreading, and spent several weeks in intensive care.
The fake nurses movements were traced using CCTV and police were able to identify Kwan as a suspect.
Searches of his home in the executive estate where he lived revealed an array of chemicals such as arsenic and liquid mercury as well as castor beans which can be used to make the chemical weapon ricin.
Police found a recipe for ricin on his computer but Ministry of Defence poisons expert Professor Steven Emmett, although still not sure which poison was used, thought iodomethane which is commonly used in pesticides, was more likely.
Mrs Justice Lambert said she will sentence Kwan once the issue of his dangerousness has been considered by the Probation Service.
She will sentence him on Thursday next week.
The prosecution said their position remained that the case was financially motivated.
Mrs Justice Lambert warned Kwan: There will be a substantial custodial term.
Paul Greaney KC, defending, replied: The defendant entirely understands that is inevitable.
A photo dated February 2024 showing emergency services outside Kwans home
A large forensic tent was erected in the garden of the property
Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Jason Henry of Northumbria Police said outside court: First and foremost I want to recognise and praise the victim in this case. He has been through a horrendous ordeal and his life has changed forever.
He has shown incredible strength throughout the investigation and we will continue to support him in any way we can. Thomas Kwans actions were utterly despicable.
He used his experience as a doctor to deceive the victim into thinking the medical appointment he had arranged was genuine because administering the poison which had caused him unimaginable pain and suffering.
Thanks to the cooperation of the victim and the dedicated work of the team of officers during the past 10 months we have been able to uncover Kwans scheming. Kwan thought he had covered his tracks by using fake registration plates on the vehicle and disguising himself during his visit to administer the injections.
However our quick time enquiries managed to uncover his plotting and within two days of the offence he was in custody.
The weight of evidence faced by Kwan was overwhelming and he has now admitted the offence of attempt murder. While nothing can change the impact of Kwans actions on his victim we do hope the fact he has been brought to justice will help him move on with his life.
