GP Jailed for 31 Years for Fake COVID-19 Jab Murder Attempt

Undated handout photos of Sunderland-based GP Thomas Kwan who admitted plotting to kill his mother's long-term partner by disguising himself (R) as a community nurse and poisoning him with a fake COVID-19 booster jab, issued on Oct. 7, 2024. Northumbria Police/PA Wire

A GP who disguised himself as a nurse and poisoned his mother’s partner with a fake COVID-19 “booster” jab in an elaborate murder plot has been jailed for more than 31 years.

Dr. Thomas Kwan, who was described as having a “encyclopaediac” knowledge of poisons and as feeling entitled to his mother’s money, had previously pleaded guilty to trying to murder Patrick O’Hara, 72, in his own home.

Mrs. Justice Lambert, sentencing Kwan at Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday, told him he had “struck at the heart of public confidence” in the NHS through his actions.

“It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objective,” she told the disgraced doctor, who practised in Sunderland.

Hong Kong born Kwan sent two fake letters with NHS logos, hyperlinks, and even a QR code, offering O’Hara a home visit from a community nurse named “Raj Patel.”

Undermined Trust in NHS

Mrs. Justice Lambert said they were “good forgeries” but such was the trust the couple had in the NHS, they would not have thought to question them.

The judge told Kwan, who is 53 and a married father of one, “By your masquerading, you struck at the heart of public confidence in the health care profession.”

O’Hara had told the court of 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 bug from the toxin.

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.

‘Distorted Thinking’

She 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 court heard, with the judge saying she had “no doubt” the attempted killing was financially motivated.

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.”

Kwan found out that his mother had made a will that allowed 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.

O’Hara was in the public gallery for the sentencing 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 who looked after him at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in the intensive care and plastic surgery units.

Through CCTV, police 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.

‘Morbid Obsession’

In his garage they discovered an array of dangerous chemicals which the GP had amassed.

A search of his computer uncovered instructions on how to make the chemical weapon ricin, with the court hearing he had a “morbid obsession” with poisons.

It was first thought he had used ricin to poison his victim, but a poisons expert said iodomethane was more likely.

Kwan initially denied the charge, but changed his plea to guilty after the prosecution opened the case against him in October.

Paul Greaney KC, defending, said the GP was previously of good character, and had “ruined his life” through his actions.

He described Kwan’s disguise as a nurse, consisting of a wig, fake facial hair, glasses, a long coat and darkened skin, as “amateurish” and “clumsy.”

The judge imposed a restraining order preventing Kwan from contacting O’Hara and assessed that he posed an ongoing threat to the pensioner as well as to 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.”

PA Media contributed to this report.