A former physician, already imprisoned for life, has confessed to a second sinister scheme involving his mother’s partner. Thomas Kwan, 54, admitted to attempting to poison Patrick O’Hara, 73, by sending him wine tainted with a lethal heavy metal through a fabricated wine club.
Between September 2022 and January 2024, Kwan reached out to Patrick under the guise of the Northern Wine and Drinks Tasting Gentlemen’s Club, dispatching between 18 and 21 bottles. Some of these bottles were deliberately contaminated with thallium, a highly toxic metal, with the intent to fatally harm Patrick.
Prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC revealed that two recovered bottles tested positive for poison, and evidence suggested a third bottle, also laced with thallium, caused Patrick to become ill. Not all bottles contained poison, as Patrick would have quickly fallen seriously ill, which would have prematurely exposed the plot.
“Authentic bottles were sent to build trust and lower the victim’s guard,” Mr. Makepeace explained. Patrick consumed some of the wine himself and even shared a bottle with his friend Torquil Gundlach, who also ingested the toxic beverage.
Simultaneously, Kwan was executing another deadly plan involving a counterfeit Covid-19 vaccination, for which he is currently serving a 31-year sentence. The Hong Kong-born doctor’s scheme was described by the home/” title=”19-Year-Old Footballer Jailed for Assaulting Good Samaritan Who Helped Him After a Night Out”>sentencing judge as a “brazen attempt to murder a man in broad daylight.”
Kwan sent Patrick two forged letters featuring NHS logos, clickable links, and QR codes, offering a home visit from a community nurse. In January 2024, Kwan, disguised, arrived at Patrick’s residence in central Newcastle, performed a health assessment, and administered a fake Covid vaccine. This injection contained iodomethane, a pesticide poison that is notoriously difficult to detect.
Patrick experienced immediate sharp pain following the injection, prompting Kwan to flee the scene. The victim endured a harrowing hospital stay as doctors struggled to identify the poison’s composition. He required plastic surgery after developing a necrotizing infection and described himself as “a shadow of his former self” in a victim impact statement.
During sentencing, Mrs. Justice Lambert remarked on Patrick’s emotional turmoil, partly stemming from the shock that such a heinous act could be committed by the son of his partner, masquerading as a trusted healthcare professional.
Kwan’s relationship with his mother, Jenny Leung, had deteriorated over financial disputes. His anger intensified upon discovering that his mother’s will allowed Patrick to remain in her home if she passed away first. The couple has since separated following the attempted murder.
Police investigations, including CCTV footage, traced Kwan-still disguised as a nurse-from a city center hotel back to his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside. Authorities uncovered a collection of hazardous chemicals in his garage, along with instructions on how to manufacture ricin, a deadly toxin.
Although initially suspected, ricin was ruled out as the poison used on Patrick; experts identified iodomethane as the more probable agent. Northumbria Police recently announced that Kwan faces two additional charges.
Following a Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service hearing in September, Kwan was struck off the medical register. Tribunal chair Gerry Wareham stated, “Erasure was the only appropriate sanction to reflect the gravity of the conviction, safeguard the public, uphold confidence in the profession, and maintain proper standards.”
During a three-day hearing, Kwan submitted a document expressing regret over his guilty plea to attempted murder, claiming his intention to appeal and describing the poisoning as an “isolated, unintended error.” However, when addressing the tribunal via video link from prison, he offered an apology: “I sincerely apologize to Mr. A, his family, my former colleagues, my family, and all affected by my actions.”
He concluded, “I accept the tribunal’s sanction and have nothing further to add.”
0 Comments