GP ’poisoned’ neighbor’s plants before trying to kill stepdad with fake COVID jab

22 October 2024 , 12:52

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GP ’poisoned’ neighbor’s plants before trying to kill stepdad with fake COVID jab

Thomas Kwan admitted to having tried to murder his mum’s partner Patrick O’Hara with a bogus Covid vaccine that was filled with poison - all while dressed up as a nurse

Evil GP Thomas Kwan ’poisoned’ the plants in his neighbour’s garden before he tried to kill his stepdad with a suspected pesticide.

The family doctor admitted attempting to murder his mum’s partner Patrick O’Hara, 72, with a fake Covid jab, laced with a poison, while disguised as a nurse. And he was involved in a series of bizarre disputes with his neighbours as he hatched his murder plan, storing a series of dangerous chemicals in his garage, including the ingredients to make deadly ricin.

Police returned to his £500,000 home in Ingleby Barwick on Teesside to carry out extensive searches after he changed his plea to admit attempted murder earlier this month. Officers looked through his house as well as the garage where he had amassed a frightening collection of noxious substances and castor beans, used in the production of deadly ricin, identified now as a chemical weapon.

Kwan tried to pose as a nurse to give his mum’s partner a fake Covid vaccine ( Image: PA)

A neighbour told how two vans of officers returned to the house two weeks ago, after he changed his plea to admit his guilt at Newcastle crown court. One neighbour said a resident on the close where Kwan lived saw all their plants and shrubs die. 

"It was more than just one or two plants," they said. "It was not an accidental dump of some of the chemicals in his garage. He maliciously killed the plants."

One lad, now 20, used to play in the garden next door to Kwan with his brother. He said: "He picked up the balls when they went into his garden, took them in the garage and put a pin in them and then put them in the bin.

"We did make a noise playing against the fence but do you really have to do that in the garage? He later threatened to get an Asbo against us if we went anywhere near his garage.

"After the case, with all the poisons, we wondered if that is why he wanted to keep us away from there. They were our neighbours, but we did not speak to them after that."

His dad said: "We wondered what the police were looking for when they came back. Did he tell the police something after he confessed to attempted murder? They brought out a load of bags, from the garage and the house."

Kwan tried to poison his mum’s partner ( 

North News & Pictures northn)

The lad’s mum witnessed Kwan puncturing her sons’ footballs after they went over the fence. She added: "I told him that he should be ashamed of himself, he was supposed to be a pillar of the community, he was a local GP here before he moved to Sunderland. I threatened to go to the papers to expose him, and he brought around a load of kit for the kids to apologise."

The sentencing of the Hong Kong born GP, 53, who used to work at the Happy House surgery in Sunderland, was delayed. He has been warned that he faces up to 35 years in jail due to the premeditated nature of the attack.

Kwan’s wife and young son still live at his former home, and it is believed that she has visited him in prison, making long journeys to Hull from Teesside, before his guilty pleas.

The Mirror told how Mr O’Hara had experienced unexplained hair loss caused by his traumatic ordeal. He was admitted to intensive care with necrotitis fasciitis, a rare bacterial infection.

Prior to the attack at the Newcastle home Mr O’Hara shared with Kwan’s mother Jenny Leung on Jan. 22 of this year, Kwan had been working as a ’respected’ GP at the Happy House surgery in Sunderland.

But he had amassed a deadly collection of poisons over a period of months. An MoD expert believed that the ’fumigant pesticide’ iodomethane, never previously injected into a human, was in Kwan’s fake Covid jab.

It is impossible to detect once administered. Even following his arrest two days after the attack, Kwan refused to reveal which poison he had used as Patrick lay in intensive care, instead complaining in prison letters to his sister that his stepdad would be entitled to compensation.

A resident of the upmarket estate where he lived said: "It was evil not saying what he had given him. If they turned this into a Netflix or Amazon drama, people would not believe it. It is hard to fathom why he would do this. I feel for his wife and child; they are victims too."

The prosecution insisted the murder plot was financially motivated. Jenny changed her will to ensure Patrick could stay in her home after she died. The jury heard that on September 13, 2021, she appointed Patrick, her daughter Tolmira and Kwan as executors. If Jenny died first, Patrick would have inherited a life interest in her home and all its contents.

There could be no sale of the property ’without Mr O’Hara’s permission’. It meant that the property would not go to Kwan and his sister until after the death of their stepdad.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “Our officers were in attendance at an address in the Ingleby Barwick area of Stockton-on-Tees. There was no wider risk to the public.”

Kwan is due to be sentenced later this year at Newcastle crown court.

Elizabeth Baker