A GP who disguised himself as a nurse and poisoned his mother’s partner with a fake Covid jab in a murder plot has been jailed for more than 31 years after a judge said he had “struck at the heart of public confidence” in the NHS.
Dr Thomas Kwan, described as having a “morbid obsession” with poisons and feeling entitled to his mother’s money, previously pleaded guilty to trying to murder Patrick O’Hara, 72, in his own home.
Mrs Justice Lambert, sentencing Kwan at Newcastle Crown Court, said: “It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objective.”
Kwan sent two fake letters with NHS logos, hyperlinks and even a QR code, offering Mr O’Hara a home visit from a community nurse.
Mrs Justice Lambert said they were “good forgeries” but such was the trust the couple had in the NHS, they would not have viewed them in any critical way.
The judge told Kwan: “By your masquerading, you struck at the heart of public confidence in the health care profession.”
Mr O’Hara had previously described the sharp pain he felt when he received the jab and the hospital ordeal he went through as medics fought to save his life, then having to undergo plastic surgery after he developed a flesh-eating disease.
It left him “a shell of an individual”, he said in a victim statement.
The judge said: “It was clear to me that he has been transformed from a tough, stoical person that he was before the act.
“His emotional reaction is due in part to his disbelief that this terrible act could be perpetrated by the son of his partner under the guise of a trusted health professional.”
Kwan chose the poison iodomethane, which is used in pesticides, as it would be difficult for medics to detect, the judge said.
Assessing his dangerousness, Mrs Justice Lambert told Kwan he displayed “distorted thinking”, a sense of entitlement and a “capacity for most extreme behaviour in order to meet your own needs”.
Kwan was effectively estranged from his mother, Jenny Leung, after falling out over money, the judge said.
Mrs Justice Lambert told the defendant: “You were certainly obsessed by money and more particularly, the money to which you considered yourself entitled.
“No doubt you tried to kill Mr O’Hara for financial gain.”
The judge said there might well have been “bad blood” between Kwan and his mother, going back to his childhood, adding: “Whatever the deep-rooted cause, by 2024 and well before, your resentment and bitterness towards your mother and Mr O’Hara was all to do with money and your belief you were not being given money which you thought you were entitled to.”
We welcome the judge’s finding of Thomas Kwan’s dangerousness. This finding recognises that Kwan still poses a significant risk of serious harm to others, which is appropriately reflected in the sentence passed on him
Mr O’Hara was in the public gallery for the hearing and afterwards said: “I think justice has been done.”
He thanked the police and prosecutors, saying: “The sincerity and the professionalism they have shown has been amazing.”
He also thanked medics at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in the intensive care and plastic surgery units, before becoming emotional and saying: “I cannot say any more.”
Kwan, 53, found out that his mother had made a will which allowed Mr O’Hara to stay in her home should she die before him.
The couple have split up since her son’s attempt on his life.
Officers scoured CCTV and were able to track Kwan, still disguised as a nurse, back to a city centre hotel and then to his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside.
In his garage they discovered an array of dangerous chemicals which the GP had amassed.
On his computer they found the instructions on how to make the chemical weapon ricin.
It was first thought he had used ricin on Mr O’Hara but a poisons expert said iodomethane was more likely.
Kwan went on trial last month and changed his plea to guilty after the prosecution opened the case against him.
Paul Greaney KC, defending, said the GP was previously of positive good character, and had “ruined his life”.
He described Kwan’s disguise, when he passed himself off as a nurse, as “amateurish” and “clumsy”.
The judge imposed a restraining order preventing Kwan from contacting Mr O’Hara and assessed that he posed an ongoing threat to the pensioner, and his mother.
After the hearing, Christopher Atkinson, head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS North East, said: “We welcome the judge’s finding of Thomas Kwan’s dangerousness.
“This finding recognises that Kwan still poses a significant risk of serious harm to others, which is appropriately reflected in the sentence passed on him.”
