A GP has admitted trying to kill his mother's long-term partner by disguising himself as a community nurse and poisoning him with a flesh-eating toxin disguised as a Covid jab. Thomas Kwan, 53, injected Patrick O'Hara with the life-threatening chemical in what prosecutors described as one of the most elaborate criminal plots in recent memory.
Kwan, a respected GP in Sunderland, initially denied attempted murder but changed his plea at Newcastle Crown Court after the prosecution opened the case. He had plotted for months, using shell companies, counterfeit documents and disguises to gain access to O'Hara, 72, at his mother's home in Newcastle. Last November, he wrote to O'Hara claiming he was a priority for a home-visit Covid booster because of his age.
Kwan visited the house wearing a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves, a medical mask and tinted glasses. He conducted a 45-minute examination before administering the injection. O'Hara shouted in pain, but Kwan reassured him and left. The pain continued, and the next day O'Hara's arm had blistered and discoloured. He developed necrotising fasciitis, requiring part of his arm to be surgically removed, and spent weeks in intensive care.
CCTV traced the fake nurse's movements, leading police to Kwan. A search of his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, uncovered lethal chemicals including arsenic, liquid mercury and castor beans, which can be used to make ricin. Ministry of Defence experts identified the likely poison as iodomethane, a fumigant pesticide, believed to be the first recorded case of it being injected into a human.
Kwan had become obsessed after his mother named O'Hara in her will, allowing him to stay in her house after her death. He installed spyware on his mother's laptop to monitor her finances and burst into her home uninvited in 2022, leading to police involvement. DCI Jason Henry of Northumbria Police described Kwan's actions as utterly despicable, noting the horrendous ordeal O'Hara had endured.
