Evil North East GP to lose NHS pension after attempting to murder mum's partner in poison plot
The evil North East GP who admitted to attempting to murder his mum's partner with a deadly poison while disguised as a Covid nurse is set to lose his £1m NHS pension.
Thomas Kwan, 53, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 31 years and five months for the attempted murder of Patrick O'Hara.
Kwan, who was a respected GP in Sunderland, disguised himself as a community nurse and sent fake NHS letters to Patrick O'Hara informing him he was due a Covid booster jab. However, the injection was actually packed with home-made poison. The injection left Mr O'Hara, from Newcastle, in intensive care with a flesh-eating disease.
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Kwan had built up a substantial sum over his long career, and his pension would have been worth around £1m by the time of his retirement. However, he will now lose it all, reports The Mirror.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This was an appalling crime, and we offer our sincere sympathy to Patrick O'Hara and his family." They declined to comment on the specific case of Dr Kwan.
But sources confirmed the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care may direct that pension benefits of NHS Pension Scheme members be forfeited where the member 'has been convicted of an offence committed before those benefits are payable.'
The high-earning GP's mother had concocted a new will allowing Mr O'Hara to reside in her Newcastle home in the event of her death, consequently postponing Kwan’s inheritance. He then plotted to kill Mr O'Hara to get his hands on his mother's inheritance. He dressed as a Covid nurse, in a wig and a mask, to administer a potentially lethal dose of poison to Mr O'Hara, who needed skin grafts to his arm, and suffered PTSD.
The former GP was handed a life sentence and ordered to serve at least 31 years and five months. Mrs Justice Christina Lambert stated that she firmly believed his motive was monetary gain.
Mrs Justice Lambert said: "Your mother had, you said, withdrawn £1million from the joint account which she held with your father and had then forced him to divorce her.
"In a letter to your mother dated January 2022...you said that you would never give up on your inheritance. You wrote this: 'I would like you to make me the sole executor of your will'."
His wife said that she had noticed a change of behaviour in Kwan's behaviour as he plotted to murder Mr O'Hara.
Kwan had amassed a terrifying collection of poisons including arsenic, liquid mercury, sulphuric acid and castor beans for the chemical weapon ricin in the garage of the home he shared with his wife and son.
His wife said: "I knew nothing about this. I know what he did was bad. I think he intended to harm, not kill. Last November/December, he started to change, he was not normal. He was very nervous, he was sweating at night. He was not sociable, he liked to work but he did not have any social life, he is a very private man.
"Our married life was very, very happy, he was a very good doctor and happy with his patients. I think he had a mental illness but as a GP, he did not want to book an appointment to seek help. He did not escape, he kept everything he used, it was all there for the police when they came to arrest him. It does not make sense."
Kwan is now set to lose his £1million pension, and will spend at least the next 31 years behind bars.