Chilling footage shows the moment GP Thomas Kwan was arrested whilst wearing his pyjamas at his home after he tried to murder his mother’s partner with a fake Covid vaccine.
A body-worn camera shows officers carrying out an early morning raid of Kwan’s home, after the 53-year-old had injected Patrick O’Hara, 72, with a pesticide while disguised as a community nurse.
The successful doctor can be seen answering the door wearing a pair of striped pyjamas and a woolly hat, as he calmly lets the officers into his house before they arrest him.
Kwan was sentenced to 31 years in prison at Newcastle Crown Court today after he injected Mr O’Hara with the fake vaccine that left him fighting for his life in November 2023.
The court had previously heard how Kwan had wanted to murder Mr O’Hara, whom he saw as an ‘impediment’ to inheriting his mother Jenny Leung’s estate because he had the legal right to remain living in her flat if she died.
The successful GP then set up an appointment to offer Mr O’Hara a booster jab using fake NHS documents and went to his mother’s flat in Newcastle disguised in a hat, mask and coat – pretending to be a nurse called Raj Patel.
A few days after he was injected with the pesticide, Mr O’Hara was admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis in his left arm.
Thomas Kwan can be seen answering the door wearing a pair of striped pyjamas and a woolly hat, as he calmly lets the officers into his house before they arrest him.
Thomas Kwan, 53, has been jailed for 31 years and five months at Newcastle Crown Court.
Kwan is seen in a selfie wearing a disguise of a fake hairpiece, beard and moustache. He took this selfie in order to create a fake ID under the name ‘Raj Patel’
Kwan chose the poison iodomethane, which is used in pesticides, as it would be difficult for medics to detect, the judge said.
Recalling his ordeal in court, Mr O’Hara said the jab caused ‘excruciating pain’, and led to him being in hospital for five weeks for a series of operations.
After initially recovering he recently relapsed dramatically, losing all his hair and suffering complications including fatigue, weight loss and hallucinations.
He told the court last month: ‘Overall, this incident should have been the end of me. The nature of what occurred to my body has left me speechless.
‘Had it not been for medical intervention I am positive that not only would I have lost my left arm but my life as well.’
The defendant initially denied attempted murder, but changed his plea after he heard the prosecution open the case against him.
Kwan was effectively estranged from his mother after falling out over money, the judge said.
The married man, born in Hong Kong and educated at a British public school from the age of 13, felt aggrieved about his inheritance from his late father, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Mrs Justice Lambert told the defendant today: ‘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.’
Details of the ‘strained and difficult’ relationship between the poisoner and his mother emerged, as the judge said there might well have been ‘bad blood’ between the pair going back to Kwan’s childhood.
Kwan’s mother, Wai King – also known as Jenny Leung – is pictured outside court during an earlier hearing
The GP, who carried a large bag, is seen making his way up the stairs
Sentencing, Mrs Justice Lambert said: ‘You have had a strained and difficult relationship with your mother for many years.
‘You told the author of the pre-sentence report that the relationship worsened when your mother divorced your father 27 years ago.
‘Your mother had, you said, withdrawn £1 million from the joint account which she held with your father and had then forced him to divorce her.
‘In Chinese culture you said that it was usual for the eldest child to receive the largest proportion of the financial proceeds of a parent’s will.
‘However, when your father died your younger brother received the largest proportion. You considered this to be unfair.
‘In a letter to your mother dated January 2022 you referred to her having stolen money from your father and family and told her that you had never given up your rights to your inheritance.’
Kwan gave his mother, Jenny Leung, a laptop computer in 2020.
Unbeknownst to her, Kwan had installed spyware on it so he could check her financial dealings, and watch her home life on its camera.
And on one occasion Kwan burst into his mother and Mr O’Hara’s home in central Newcastle to pester her about finances, causing her to call the police.
Officers gave Kwan a warning about his future conduct but Ms Leung did not want to damage his medical career by taking the matter further.
The judge told him: ‘Following this incident contact between you and your mother was minimal and only indirect.
‘But even following your arrest, intercepted correspondence from you to your wife demonstrated a continued interest in your mother’s finances.
‘You referred to your mother and her partner taking all of ‘our hard-earned money and home’.’
Recalling his ordeal in court, Mr O’Hara (pictured outside court on Tuesday) said the jab caused ‘excruciating pain’, and led to him being in hospital for five weeks for a series of operations.
Kwan’s obsession with money lead him to try to murder Mr O’Hara in the audacious plot, the judge said.
Mrs Justice Lambert added: ‘You described your mother as being “money obsessed”.
‘Whether she was or not I do not know. You however were certainly obsessed by money and more particularly by the money to which you considered yourself to be entitled.
‘I have no doubt that the reason why you tried to kill Mr O’Hara was for financial gain.
‘You knew that your mother had left the house at St Thomas Street to her children, but you also knew that she had changed her will to give Mr O’Hara a life interest in the house.
‘By killing him you would have removed the obstacle which lay between you and your immediate recovery of your share in the property following your mother’s death in the event of her pre-deceasing him.’
She added: ‘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.’
Assessing his dangerousness, the judge old Kwan he displayed ‘distorted thinking’, a sense of entitlement and a ‘capacity for most extreme behaviour in order to meet your own needs’.
The judge said he had a ‘morbid obsession’ with toxic chemicals.
Mr O’Hara previously said despite a career as an environment analyst, working in buildings with asbestos, he had been in good health until tricked into having a Covid booster at home in January.
Kwan set up the appointment using fake NHS documents and went to his mother’s flat in Newcastle disguised in a hat, mask and coat.
Mr O’Hara said that day ‘my life completely changed forever.’
Kwan getting out of his car (middle) after arriving at the underground car park in Newcastle on the day of the attempted murder
Police officers were seen carrying boxes of evidence away from the large property
He said: ‘I remember that when that needle entered my arm, I felt instant, excruciating pain, I had never in my life felt anything that painful before. I instantly thought that something had gone wrong.’
Mr O’Hara trusted the nurse’s opinion that it was ‘an allergic reaction’ and never suspected he was his partner’s son Thomas in disguise.
In the days that followed he was admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis in his left arm.
Surgeons cut away large sections of his arm to halt the disease and he underwent two skin grafts to move skin from his thigh to his arm.
While in hospital he was in constant pain, he said.
Mr O’Hara said with treatment and physiotherapy he recovered well, until a sudden decline two months ago. I lost almost all my hair literally overnight,’ he said. ‘I began to hallucinate in addition to numerous other ailments.’
Mr O’Hara said his doctor believes he was suffering a ‘delayed stress’ reaction.
The judge said Mr O’Hara read his victim statement with ‘great dignity and composure’ at the last hearing.
‘It was clear to me that he has been transformed from a tough, stoical person that he was before the act,’ Mrs Justice Lambert said.
Emergency services outside Kwan’s £300,000 home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, earlier this year
‘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.’
The judge found Thomas Kwan still posed a risk to Patrick O’Hara and his own mother.
She imposed a restraining order preventing the GP from contacting his victim.
Outside court, Christopher Atkinson, head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS North East, said: ‘Kwan’s attempt on the life of Patrick O’Hara, while unsuccessful, has left his victim with life-changing injuries.
‘As a result of the necrotising fasciitis caused by the chemical, significant amounts of soft tissue had to be surgically removed from around the site of the injection.
‘Beyond the physical effects, this incident has also been psychologically traumatic for Mr O’Hara, whose mental health has been significantly impacted as a direct result.
‘The Crown’s case has always been that Kwan’s horrific actions were motivated by financial greed. When Kwan’s mother withdrew her financial support of him, he felt that harming Mr O’Hara would be a way of getting revenge.
‘He also saw Mr O’Hara as a barrier between himself and part of his inheritance, one which he wanted desperately to remove.
‘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.’
‘Our thoughts remain with Patrick O’Hara at what remains a difficult time, and we sincerely hope that seeing the perpetrator of this horrific plot jailed today provides some measure of comfort to him.’
