Man injected with flesh-eating chemical by partner’s disgraced GP son went ‘to hell and back’

Thomas Kwan disguised himself to poison Patrick O’Hara in financially-motivated attempted murder plot, sentencing hearing told

A disgraced GP who injected his mother’s long-term partner with a rare flesh-eating disease, claiming it was Covid booster jab, sent his victim to go “to hell and back”, a court has heard.

Thomas Kwan, 53, disguised himself as a community nurse and devised an intricate plan to kill Patrick O’Hara, 72, after the “money-obsessed” father-of-one learnt his mother had named him in her will.

Police initially thought the Sunderland-based doctor, who was obsessed with money and developed a deep knowledge of poisons, had injected the chemical weapon ricin into the 72-year-old’s arm – but it emerged from experts that a pesticide was more likely to have been used as the poison in the attempted murder plot.

In a victim impact statement heard at Kwan’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, Mr O’Hara spoke about the excruciating pain he felt the moment he was injected, before later feeling like his arm “was on fire”.

Thomas Kwan had disguised himself as a community nurse to poison his mother’s long-term partner (Northumbria Police/PA)

Kwan previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder after hearing the prosecution open the case against him at Newcastle Crown Court. His sentencing hearing began on Thursday at the same court, which heard he could be jailed for 35 years.

Peter Makepeace KC, prosecuting, said the plot was financially motivated because Kwan felt entitled to benefit from his mother’s will, but she had stated in it that Mr O’Hara could stay in their home in the event of her death.

Kwan, who was well-paid as a GP and had made a £2 million offer on a house in the south of England, also gave his mother, Jenny Leung, a computer in 2020 that had spyware installed on it so he could secretly track her financial dealings.

In his victim statement, Mr O’Hara revealed he is no longer in a relationship with Kwan’s mother and has moved out of their home in St Thomas Street, Newcastle. He praised his ex-wife Theresa for the loving support she has given him after he moved in with his daughter.

Victim Patrick O'Hara, centre, leaves Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

The court was told he has developed severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the attempt on his life in January when he said his “life completely changed for ever”.

Mr O’Hara is a retired environmental analyst who worked with asbestos for years and so who had regular health checks. He received a letter he believed to be from the NHS last November, with a follow-up in January, offering him a home health check.

In fact, it was Kwan claiming to be a community nurse called Raj Patel, who had forged NHS documentation and used false number plates for the journey to Newcastle, as well as booked himself into a city centre hotel using a false name.

On 22 January, Kwan then travelled to his mother’s home wearing a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves and wearing a medical mask and tinted glasses.

Speaking in broken English with an Asian accent, he carried out a 45-minute examination on Mr O’Hara and took his unsuspecting mother’s blood pressure.

Thomas Kwan pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted murder at Newcastle Crown Court (PA Wire)

When the injection was administered, Mr O’Hara shouted in pain but was told by Kwan that this reaction was not uncommon.

Mr O’Hara told the court: “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.”

By the next day his arm had blistered and was discoloured, leaving medics at the hospital baffled.

It was later discovered he had developed the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis and needed to have part of his arm cut away to stop it from spreading, and spent several weeks in intensive care.

Mr O’Hara continued: “In the days that followed, as a direct result of being injected by Thomas, I had to attend my GP as my left arm was suffering in a way that was causing me huge concerns. It felt like it was on fire.”

CCTV shows Kwan using a disguise to travel to Newcastle, where he poisoned Patrick O’Hara (Northumbria Police/PA)

He said: “Overall, this incident should have been the end of me. The nature of what had occurred to my body has left me speechless. Had it have not been for medical intervention I am positive that, not only would I have lost my left arm, but my life as well.”

Mr O’Hara fell ill again in August, rapidly losing a stone and a half in weight, having almost all of his hair fall out, and suffering from hallucinations. He was diagnosed with PTSD and described himself as “a shell of an individual”.

He said he fears Kwan being released and targeting him or his loved ones.

“I genuinely struggle to talk about this situation, and this has impacted the close relationships that I have with my family,” he said.

Speaking of the moment the Hong Kong-born doctor was arrested over the attack, he said: “I couldn’t believe it ... my thoughts spiral out of control.”

He concluded: “I genuinely feel as if I have been to hell and back.”

The disgraced GP used a fake name and used false number plates to disguise who he was (PA Media)

Jurors previously heard that police analysis of Kwan’s computers showed he had researched how to get away with murder.

Police identified Kwan as a suspect after tracing the fake nurse’s movements on CCTV.

A search of his home sparked a major emergency services operation after lethal chemicals were discovered in his detached garage in Ingleby Barwick in Teeside.

Mr Makepeace, referring to the chemicals found in Kwan’s garage, said on Thursday: “Here is a man who irrationally has harboured an intention to kill a man in the worst imaginable way, planned it meticulously, and has furnished himself with multiple ways of achieving that.

“He was equipping himself with the knowledge to potentially cause serious mayhem.”

The judge, Mrs Justice Lambert, said she will sentence Kwan, of Brading Court, Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, at a later date.