GP admits attempting to kill mum's partner with fake Covid jab laced with poison

Dr Thomas Kwan, 53, was accused of trying to kill Patrick O'Hara, now 72, after experimenting with a series of noxious substances, including Castor beans to make ricin, in his garage following a row over his mother Jenny's will

A "respected" GP, Dr Thomas Kwan, has changed his plea to guilty in court - admitting he attempted to murder his mother's partner with a counterfeit Covid jab containing poison. The 53-year-old doctor was accused of trying to kill 72-year-old Patrick O'Hara after experimenting with toxic substances like Castor beans to produce ricin in his garage, following a dispute over his mother Jenny's will.

Kwan had previously sent Mr O'Hara fake NHS letters to set up the "Covid jab". After the January 22 attack, the victim contacted his GP and the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle due to inflammation at the injection site, despite being sent home with antibiotics.

His condition deteriorated, leading to hospitalisation and a diagnosis of Necrotising Fasciitis, a severe flesh-eating disease, requiring intensive care treatment. The court heard that Kwan had become fixated on deadly substances such as ricin, arsenic, cyanide, and nerve agents, with evidence of "10 poisons used to kill people" found in his possession.

During the trial at Newcastle Crown Court, the jury saw the beginning of a video featuring Mr O'Hara in the ICU unit of the RVI, detailing the poisoning incident. Although the full interview could not be played due to technical difficulties, Kwan's behaviour noticeably shifted when he returned to court, sitting with his head down before the jury was dismissed.

The video interview was scheduled to be shown in full to the jury today at Newcastle Crown Court. Kwan had been "pestering" his mother about her financial affairs after she altered her will to allow Mr O'Hara to continue living in their shared home if she were to pass away first, reports the Mirror.

Kwan, a father of one from Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, denied charges of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm. He admitted to administering a harmful substance but refuted any intention to cause serious harm.

On 22 January this year, he disguised himself to inject Mr O'Hara, then aged 71, and his mother's partner of 20 years, Jenny Leung, with an unidentified poison at their residence. He purchased a range of hazardous chemicals, concealing his actions by using the Happy House surgery in Sunderland where he worked as a GP and a bogus research company, Azxon UK Ltd, as a "front", according to Peter Makepeace KC, who is prosecuting.

The court heard how Kwan sent Mr O'Hara two counterfeit NHS letters from a "community nurse" named Raj Patel, a former colleague of Kwan's, and even created a fake ID featuring a wig, moustache, glasses and goatee beard. Mr Makepeace stated: "Very considerable portions of Mr O'Hara's arm flesh had to be removed in repeated procedures."

The court heard that five days following the assault, Mr O'Hara received a letter resembling NHS correspondence, which detailed blood test results prior to his jab. Police intercepted a package destined for Mr O'Hara, containing over-the-counter iron supplements, which prosecutors allege were sent by the accused.

Detectives interviewed him shortly after the incident. CCTV footage presented to the jury showed Kwan entering a Premier Inn close to his mother's Newcastle residence, then donning a surgical mask, gloves, hat, and dark tinted glasses before administering a harmful substance to Mr O'Hara.

The substance was thought to be iodomethane (c), a pesticide not previously used on humans, the court was informed. Suspicion arose when Jenny noted that the 'nurse' was similar in height to her son.

In his opening statement, Mr Makepeace KC said to the jury: "Sometimes, occasionally perhaps, the truth really is stranger than fiction," adding, "The case you are about to try, on any view, is an extraordinary case."

He continued: "Mr Thomas Kwan, the defendant, was, in January of this year, a respected and experienced medical doctor in general practice with a GP's surgery based in Sunderland. From November 2023 at the latest, and probably long before then, he devised an intricate plan to kill his mother's long-term partner, a man called Patrick O'Hara, reports The Mirror.

"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 mother's estate upon her death. Mr Kwan used his encyclopedic knowledge of, and research into, poisons to carry out his plan."

He continued: "That plan was to disguise himself as a community nurse, attend Mr O'Hara's address, the home he shared with the defendant's mother, and inject him with a dangerous poison under the pretext of administering a covid booster injection. It was a very carefully planned scheme; it involved Mr Kwan forging NHS documentation to lure Mr O'Hara into his plan; personal disguise to shield his identity from his victim and his mother; falsification of number plates on his car to try to evade detection; and using false details to book into a local hotel to use as the base for his operation."

"It was an audacious plan, it was a plan to murder a man in plain sight, to murder a man right in front of his own mother, that man's life partner."

The jury heard that an MoD expert, Dr Steven Emmett, was brought in by police to try and identify the substance used. He found that there has been 'no recorded medical case of any human being injected with iodomethane'.

Mr Makepeace stated that the expert concluded the hypodermic injection of iodomethane into Mr O'Hara "could have resulted in the injuries" he suffered. He added: "He noted iodomethane is highly reactive even on external contact with skin leading to skin burns and blisters similar to those seen in the early stages of Mr O'Hara's presentation.

"He concluded iodomethane was a viable candidate for causing the injuries to Mr O'Hara. He was satisfied it would be suitable as a candidate to cause acute harm to anybody upon hypodermic application."

The court was shown the fake ID for Raj Patel, the alias used by Kwan to pose as an NHS nurse administering the Covid jab, featuring Kwan disguised with a black wig, moustache, beard, and glasses.

Additionally, Kwan's home yielded "comprehensive lists" of poisons and instructions for their use, including the quantities needed to kill a man. Following Kwan's guilty plea to attempted murder, Judge Mrs Justice Lambert warned him to anticipate a 'substantial custodial sentence'.

The sentencing was scheduled for Thursday, October 17, as announced by the judge. Kwan, dressed in a grey sweatshirt, remained expressionless as the jury delivered the guilty verdict on the charge of attempted murder.

Mr O'Hara was not present in court; however, his family members attended the proceedings.