Thomas Kwan, 53, is a British general practitioner from Sunderland who, in January, posed as a nurse and attempted to murder his mother's partner, Patrick O'Hara. Administering a toxin that caused a flesh-eating disease, Kwan aimed to murder O'Hara to inherit his mother's house.
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Peter Makepeace KC, the prosecutor in Kwan's case, recently addressed the jury in court, according to Mail Online. "From November 2023 at the latest, and probably long before then, he devised an intricate plan to kill his mother's long-term partner, a man called Patrick O'Hara," said Makepeace.
Kwan's plan, described as intricate and audacious by the Makepeace, was devised several months before the incident. The motive behind Kwan's attempted murder was O'Hara's inclusion in his mother's will. His mother, Jenny Leung, made it so that, should she die before him, O'Hara could still live in Leung's house. Despite his mother still being alive, the idea angered Kwan to the point of attempted murder.
"It was an audacious plan, it was a plan to murder a man in plain sight, to murder a man right in front of his own mother's eyes, that man's life partner," said Makepeace, addressing the jury. "The effect of the will was that the property would not go to Ms Leung's children until after Mr O'Hara's death."
This led to Kwan becoming obsessed and enraged, leading to him berating his mother back in November 2022. O'Hara called the police who gave Kwan a warning. However, this was just the start of his sinister plan.
A Murder Plan Gone Wrong
Makepeace then described how Kwan posed as a nurse and sent letters to O'Hara, saying that he was eligible for a medical checkup home visit. "That plan was to disguise himself as a community nurse, attend Mr O'Hara's address, the home he shared with the defendant's mother, and inject him with a dangerous poison under the pretext of administering a Covid booster injection," said Makepeace.
The obsession didn't stop there, as Kwan also installed spyware on his mother's computer to monitor emails, take pictures through the computer's camera, and see all financial dealings. "The spyware allowed him to monitor in real-time emails sent and received by that device, searches undertaken on the device and even image captures of the user of the computer through the digital camera integrated into the device," said Makepeace.
Finally, in January, Kwan attempted to murder O'Hara by injecting him with a toxin posing as a Covid booster jab. While O'Hara survived, he developed necrotizing fasciitis, a very aggressive skin infection that, eventually, led to doctors removing part of his arm at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.
Thomas Kwan changed his plea on Monday, October 7, after initially denying attempted murder. According to Judge Justice Lambert, Kwan faces substantial prison time. His sentencing will take place on October 17.
