Evil GP Thomas Kwan who dressed as nurse in bid to kill mum's partner admits second horror plot

An evil GP today admitted a second plot to kill his mother's partner in a row over her will.

Dr Thomas Kwan, 54, admitted the attempt to murder Patrick O'Hara between September 15, 2022 and January 21, 2024. He also admitted administering a noxious substance to Mr O'Hara in bottles of wine which were laced with thallium, a highly toxic substance.

At Newcastle Crown Court, Peter Makepeace KC, prosecuting, said not all of the wine bottles contained thallium as "if every single bottle delivered were laced, every single bottle would result in immediate illness and would have quickly brought the scheme to a halt. Genuine bottles were sent to lure the victim into a sense of security."

The court heard that Mr O'Hara gifted a bottle of the wine to his son-in-law Torquil Gundlach before the poisoning plot emerged. Kwan, serving life behind bars, also admitted unlawfully and maliciously causing a poison to be taken by Mr Gundlach.

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Kwan, serving a 31 year and five month sentence for his original plot to murder Mr O'Hara, will now face an additional sentence for the second murder plot.

Documents were found on Kwan's computer relating to the "Northern Wine and Drinks Tasting Gentlemen's Club" which did not exist, the court heard.

Kwan, who is being supported by his wife following his imprisonment for life, sent bottles of wine to Mr O'Hara from the fake club. The court heard that at least two contained the poison but others were sent without the poison to ensure the plot was not uncovered by Mr O'Hara.

Mr Makepeace said: "Some of the wine was passed by Mr O'Hara to his son in law Torquil Gundlach.

"Analysis of the bottles found that two did contain poison. There is evidence that a third bottle provided led to illness consistent with thallium poisoning.

"The scheme to deliver these bottles was part of the attempted murder of Mr O'Hara. The bottles were delivered using the false details of the club. There is no legitimate reason for them to be delivered.

"Two bottles were laced (with poison) but if every single bottle had been used, it would have resulted in illness. The idea was to give the victim a sense of security."

Kwan, now 54, must serve at least two thirds of his 31 year term behind bars. It will be more than 20 years before he can apply for parole.

His victim Patrick O'Hara saw him jailed in November last year. Judge Mrs Justice Lambert said that Kwan was 'solely motivated' by financial gain in his crime. His mother had taken £1m out of a joint bank account before she divorced Kwan's father.

Kwan considered that he had not been fairly treated with his father's inheritance as he did not receive the greatest share of his estate, which he felt was his right.

The court heard that, even after he had been arrested, he complained from prison about the compensation which Mr O'Hara was likely to receive for the horrific injuries which he suffered as a result of being poisoned by him.

The court heard that the fake NHS letters sent by Kwan to set up the Covid appointment were 'wholly convincing' and he had used his expert knowledge as a GP to carry out his murder plot.

He had also planned it for months and carried it out 'in plain sight' with his mother Jenny Leung in attendance; he even checked her blood pressure at her request before he left Mr O'Hara in agony from the injection.

The judge Mrs Lambert said: "Your mother had withdrawn £1m from a joint account just before she divorced your father. In Chinese culture, you believed you should receive a bigger proportion of your father's will. But your younger brother received the biggest proportion and you considered that to be unfair."

Obsessed with money and his inheritance from his mother, Kwan had given her a laptop; she thought it was a gift, but he had installed spyware to secretly keep an eye on her financial dealings.

Kwan fooled Ms Leung as he attempted to kill Mr O'Hara, her long term partner, at the home which they shared in Newcastle, but Mr O'Hara was suspicious when she remarked he was the 'same height' as her son.

Kwan had travelled from his £500,000 home in Ingleby Barwick, Teeside, in the early hours of January 22 last year. His motive was money, as Ms Leung had decided that Mr O'Hara would be able to stay in her home if she died, delaying Kwan's inheritance in her will.

Kwan refused to assist police when his stepdad, a retired environmental analyst, went into intensive care with rare bacterial bug Necrotitis Fasciitis, a flesh eating bug, caused by his injection.

Officers found a host of poisons and noxious substances at Kwan's address, including the ingredients for the chemical weapon ricin. But he would not tell them which one he had used.

They discovered he had set up his own firm, pretending to be a research chemist, in order to source the poisons, or the chemicals used to produce them.

In the end, the poison in the fake jab was identified as the fumigant pesticide iodomethane, never seen before in a human, by a MoD expert.

It left horrific injuries, with the prosecution producing a series of images of the damage to Mr O'Hara's arm, neck, chest and back.

The impact of the poison was so severe that surgeons had to cut away the skin on his left bicep and shoulder, exposing the muscle, to save his life.