GP jailed after poisoning mother’s partner with fake Covid jab
A GP poisoned his mother’s partner with a fake Covid jab in an attempt to inherit her estate in a plot that “struck at the heart of public confidence in the healthcare profession”.
Thomas Kwan, 53, disguised himself as a community nurse delivering a booster in order to inject a flesh-eating toxin into the arm of 72-year-old Patrick O’Hara.
In a crime “purely motivated by financial gain”, Kwan, originally from Hong Kong, wanted Mr O’Hara out of the way in order to ensure he was the sole heir to his mother’s will.
However, Mr O’Hara survived the attempted murder and after seeing Kwan jailed for 31 years and five months at Newcastle Crown Court said: “I believe that justice has been done.”
Sentencing the former GP, Mrs Justice Lambert said he had carefully planned and executed his murder plot, disguising his features and speaking in broken English with an Asian accent as he passed himself off as community nurse Raj Patel.
As part of his elaborate plot he had paved the way by sending out forged letters using the copied NHS logo and convincing medical language.
‘Most calculated and callous’
The judge said: “You set out to harm Mr O’Hara when he was in his own home, where he had every right to feel safe. You gained entry to his home in the most calculated and callous of ways, under the guise of a trusted healthcare professional.
“You sought and obtained his and your mother’s trust by abusing your knowledge of the healthcare system by faking letters purportedly from an NHS institution.
“They were good forgeries, but such is the trust and confidence that Mr O’Hara and your mother and the wider community place in the NHS that no one would have thought to review those letters in a critical way.
She added: “By your masquerade you struck at the heart of public confidence in the healthcare profession.”
Breaking down as he left court, Mr O’Hara said: “The care and professionalism of the NHS staff who treated me was amazing. I want to thank [the medical teams] at [Newcastle’s] RVI for what they did for me. I really can’t say any more than that.”
Asked about the sentence which will see Kwan in prison until over the age of 70 before he will be eligible to apply for parole, Mr O’Hara said: “I believe that justice has been done.”
Mrs Justice Lambert found that Kwan presented an ongoing high risk to Mr O’Hara and a medium risk to his mother.
But despite Kwan not expressing remorse, the judge said she would not impose a life sentence because in her view he did not pose a risk to the wider community.
She said: “I am satisfied your obsession with the money you felt you were entitled to, arose in very particular family circumstances.”
The court had previously heard how Kwan carefully planned his attack on January 22 this year for as long as two years.
He gained Mr O’Hara’s trust by mocking up NHS letters saying he had been selected for a Covid booster jab at home.
He even created a fake ID card in which he was depicted in dark face makeup, a wig and beard.
Neither Mr O’Hara nor his partner, Kwan’s mother Jenny Leung, recognised him as he delivered the near-fatal injection at the home they shared in central Newcastle.
‘Greed for the sake of greed’
Peter Makepeace, prosecuting, told the court Kwan, who earned £140,000-a-year, was a man of considerable means who had put in an offer on a house in the south of England for £2 million.
He told the court: “This was not a man motivated by greed for the sake of necessity. This was greed for the sake of greed.”
Mrs Justice Lambert told Kwan – who admitted attempted murder part way through his trial – she was satisfied his crime was motivated by financial gain.
She said: “I accept there may have been bad blood for some time between you and your mother and the origin may lie in the events of childhood and your sense you may not have received your fair share of maternal love and affection.
“But by 2024 the resentment and bitterness towards your mother and Mr O’Hara was all to do with money and your belief you were not being given the money you thought you were entitled to.”
She said that Kwan had become fixated with the fact that under Chinese culture the eldest son should inherit the greatest share of the parent’s legacy.
In 2022 he wrote to Ms Leung saying he should be sole executor of her will and added: “You have told me many times I am the one you love the most out of all your children.”
The court heard Mr O’Hara had needed to have part of his arm removed and was left suffering from PTSD following Kwan’s attack.
‘I have been to hell and back’
In a victim impact statement read to the court previously, he said: “I suffer from extreme fatigue and every time I get changed I am aware of the disfigurement to my arm which is an everlasting memory of the attack on me and this in addition has shattered my self-confidence.”
He went on: “I genuinely feel as if I have been to hell and back. Thomas will never comprehend or know what it’s like to suffer in the manner of which I am.
“I would like for the court to take into consideration the full range of suffering that not only I, but my family have had to endure this past year. Not just the physical but mental scarring that will never leave me.”
After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Jason Henry, of Northumbria Police, said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to reiterate our praise for the victim in this case.
“We are extremely grateful to him for his co-operation throughout our complex investigation and hope that now the man who poisoned him has been jailed he can begin to move on with his life.”
Detective Chief Inspector Henry added: “Thomas Kwan spent time meticulously planning how he would carry out this offence and cover his tracks.
“However, thanks to the assistance of the victim and witnesses, and the hard work of our dedicated officers, we managed to piece together what happened, ensuring he was brought to justice.”