Doctor in disguise: How Thomas Kwan's elaborate murder plot for money played out
Katie Cole was at Newcastle Crown Court as Dr Thomas Kwan was sentenced for attempted murder.
A once respected GP is beginning a prison sentence of more than 31 years after admitting to a financially motivated murder plot described in court as "stranger than fiction".
Dr Thomas Kwan hatched a plan to kill off his mother's partner by injecting him with poison in their Newcastle home while posing as a community nurse delivering a fake covid booster.
Dubbed by the Crown Prosecution Service as "one of the most elaborate criminal plots in recent memory", the 53-year-old's actions left victim Patrick O'Hara physically and mentally scarred.
Kwan, of Brading Court, Ingleby Barwick, pleaded guilty to attempted murder on the second day of his trial.
The court had previously heard that Mr O’Hara had been in a relationship with Kwan’s mother, Jenny Leung, for 21 years when he launched his attack.
She had named Mr O’Hara in her will to the effect that he could stay in her house in St Thomas Street should she die before her partner.
Unhappy with this arrangement, the married father-of-one set about getting Mr O'Hara out of the picture.
This is how his plan played out.
Murder plot in planning
15 November 2022 - Dr Thomas Kwan goes to his mother's home in St Thomas Street, Newcastle, where he pesters her about her financial affairs. Patrick O’Hara calls the police and Kwan is spoken to about his conduct.
7 November 2023 - A year after his last contact with Mr O’Hara, Kwan sends him a letter on NHS headed paper from a community nursing team advising him because of his age he was eligible for a home appointment.
13 December 2023 - Kwan clears his diary and books holiday from work between 22 January and 26 January at the Happy House Surgery, in Sunderland, where he is a partner.
3 January 2024 - A second letter is sent to Mr O’Hara offering a home appointment with a community nurse, named Raj Patel, for 22 January. It includes a QR code to allow Mr O’Hara to complete a questionnaire.
12 January 2024 - Kwan takes his wife and son for a night away in Newcastle, booking into the Premier Inn on Newgate Street.
Prosecutors say he was scoping out the hotel as a base for the attack.
Day of the attack
21 January 2024 - Mr O’Hara receives a text message, purportedly from the NHS nursing team, reminding him his home visit is due the next day between 9am and 1pm.
22 January 2024 - Kwan drives from his home in Ingleby Barwick to Newcastle, using fake number plates. He checks into the Premier Inn, on Newgate Street, at 2.45am using the fake name of Mr John Chan.
At 7.10am he has breakfast and then is seen on camera two hours later in disguise, wearing a long coat, hat, a clinical mask and blue surgical gloves. He is captured on CCTV making his way on foot towards St Thomas Street.
CCTV footage released by Northumbria Police shows Thomas Kwan arriving in Newcastle before reappearing in disguise
At 9.36am Kwan arrives at the home of his mother and Mr O’Hara, now also wearing tinted glasses.
He spends 45 minutes in the house, carrying out medical checks and a questionnaire with Mr O’Hara. He even takes his own mother's blood pressure at her request.
Under the pretext of administering a Covid booster jab, he injects Mr O'Hara in the arm. The victim experiences "excruciating pain" and Kwan hurriedly gathers his belongings and heads for the door.
Ms Leung makes a comment about the nurse being the same height as her son. This is the first time Mr O’Hara suspects something is wrong.
Later that day, suffering with pain in his arm, Mr O’Hara calls the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, to see if they are aware of the community nursing team, to which they say no.
He then goes to the nearby Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) where he is told that sometimes the NHS use subcontractors from private organisations to administer boosters, who are less experienced.
Mr O'Hara is given painkillers and antibiotics and sent home.
Aftermath
23 January 2024 - The next morning, with his arm blistering and discoloured, Mr O'Hara's GP sends him back to the RVI.
He is suffering from necrotising fasciitis, a rare and life-threatening flesh-eating disease. He undergoes a series of operations and remains in intensive care for several weeks.
24 January 2024 - Staff at the RVI contact police and they begin investigating Kwan, trawling through CCTV which tracks the GP heading to Mr O’Hara’s home, and then back to his house in Ingleby Barwick.
26 January 2024 - The supposed community nursing team sends Mr O’Hara a letter claiming the findings from his blood samples showed he was in good health.
27 January 2024 - A parcel is seized that was destined for Mr O’Hara’s home containing iron supplements. Prosecutors say these had undoubtedly originated from Kwan.
5 February 2024 - Kwan is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and a search of his home uncovers a haul of poisons and toxic chemicals including the ingredients for making ricin.
Footage from Northumbria Police shows the moment disgraced GP Thomas Kwan was arrested
Several files regarding poisons to kill a person, ideal poisons to use to evade detection and guidance on murder investigations are found on hard drives and a storage device.
Other documents discovered in searches suggest Kwan had an "alternative or backup plan to poison Mr O'Hara including the offers of free drinks and ready meals.
Investigations also revealed Kwan had set up a "paper company", Azxon Ltd which he used to source chemicals.
Further enquiries found Kwan had installed spy software on his mother’s computer as a means of monitoring her and Mr O’Hara.
3 October 2024 - Kwan goes on trial and denies a charge of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He pleads guilty to a charge of administering a noxious substance. The jury is told he will say he only intended to cause "mild pain and discomfort".
The court hears a Ministry of Defence poisons expert believes iodomethane, which is commonly used in pesticides, is the most likely candidate for the poison used.
7 October 2024 - Kwan changes his plea on the second day of his trial and admits a charge of attempted murder.
15 October 2024 - Further searches take place at Kwan’s home in Ingleby Barwick. Northumbria Police say there is "no wider risk to the public".
17 October 2024 - Mr O'Hara tells the court he has been left mentally and physically scarred, and will "never get over the anxiety and pain" caused by Kwan.
6 November 2024 - Kwan is sentenced to 31 years and five months in prison for the attempted murder of Mr O'Hara.
A case like no other - What the experts say
Tapping into 'trust in health professionals'
Jen Jarvie, a criminal investigator from Teesside, described the case as "like something out of a Hollywood movie" and said Kwan manipulated his way to his victims by abusing the trust that the public have in health professionals.
She told ITV Tyne Tees: "He absolutely manipulated the situation completely. His mum and partner were vulnerable being the age that they were and, being the age that they were, there is a generational expectation of these professions - of policing and doctors, of nurses.
"They are a profession that was always seen years ago as being something that you didn't question, that you took for granted."
Jen, who runs Jarvie Khan Investigations, continued: "We know how much we trust a uniform and unfortunately there are some bad apples and this has just been taken to a new level.
"He's used his profession to be able to have the knowledge to do it and to have that trust, that automatic trust of, you're coming into my home, you're giving me a COVID booster, you know you are trying to help me so I am more than willing to let you do that.
"Obviously the consequences of that for his victim were horrendous and he would have known exactly what would have happened. It shows a hugely narcissistic character and a hugely sadistic character as well."
Iodomethane as a chemical weapon 'first'
Dr Julio Ponce, an Assistant Professor in Forensic Sciences at Northumbria University, told ITV Tyne Tees it was the first time he had heard of the use of iodomethane as an agent for harm in humans.
Iodomethane, believed to be the most likely candidate for the poison injected by Kwan, is highly reactive and attaches itself to cells, structures and proteins in the body rendering them useless.
It can then create an area of tissue which can become a breeding ground for bacterial infections including Necrotising Fasciitis - a rare and life-threatening, flesh-eating disease - which is what Mr O'Hara suffered from.
Iodomethane was until recently used as a pesticide and Dr Ponce said it is uncommon to come across human exposure.
He told ITV Tyne Tees: "Iodomethane can be used as a building block for pharmaceutical compounds and for chemical industries. It was also used as a pesticide, but it has since been discontinued due to its hazards to health. It can also be used in research.
"Most of the data that we have in terms of hazards due to humans is through chronic exposure, either through work, exposure or exposure in industrial settings. In terms of that being used as a potential intentional agent for harm in humans, it's the first time that I have heard of that."
Dr Ponce said its use as a harmful agent had raised the alarm.
"Whenever we have a situation where a substance that hasn't been used before to cause harm or where there's little data, it of course, raises an alarm that people may be finding potential new ways of harming others," he continued.
"It is quite an interesting case from the standpoint of forensic toxicology, but it is also quite scary that a person would choose to cause harm to another person by using that substance."
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