Disguised GP jailed for inheritance row poisoning

A GP who disguised himself and injected his mother's spouse with a poison successful a enactment implicit an inheritance has been jailed.

Thomas Kwan, 53, was posing arsenic a assemblage caregiver giving a coronavirus booster jab erstwhile helium injected Patrick O'Hara, 71, with a toxin successful Newcastle successful January.

Mr O'Hara, who contracted a life-threatening flesh-eating illness which caused horrific injuries, antecedently told Newcastle Crown Court he had go a "shell" of himself.

Kwan, who admitted attempted execution aft the archetypal time of his trial, was jailed for 31 years and 5 months.

The GP, who worked astatine Happy House Surgery successful Sunderland, spent months readying the "audacious" attack, authoritative Peter Makepeace KC said.

He was "obsessed" with wealth and was aggravated his parent Wai King Leung, besides known arsenic Jenny Leung, had created a volition successful 2021 granting her spouse of 21 years a stock successful her Newcastle home, the tribunal heard.

Kwan, a affluent doc who lived successful a ample detached location successful Ingleby Barwick with his woman and young son, was motivated purely by greed, Mr Makepeace said.

The doc had installed spyware connected his mother's machine years earlier to way her finances.

On 22 January, Kwan went to Ms Leung and Mr O'Hara's location connected St Thomas Street posing arsenic a assemblage caregiver called Raj Patel, having arranged the sojourn done aggregate forged letters.

He was disguised down a look disguise and chapeau and had created a fake ID successful which helium had tanned his tegument and wore a achromatic wig with a mendacious beard and moustache.

The GP travelled to Newcastle the nighttime earlier successful a car fitted with mendacious fig plates and stayed astatine a adjacent edifice nether a fake name.

At the extremity of his 45-minute visit, during which helium carried retired humor checks and wellness surveys, Kwan injected Mr O'Hara successful the arm.

Mr O'Hara said helium instantly felt an "excruciating pain" but his visitant told him that was a mean reaction, past near successful a hurry.

The unfortunate rapidly became suspicious erstwhile Ms Leung said the visitant was the aforesaid tallness arsenic her son.

Mr O'Hara spent 5 weeks successful Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary during which clip doctors chopped distant ample pieces of diseased soma successful a hopeless bid to halt the the necrotising fasciitis spreading beyond his arm.

He needed respective tegument graft surgeries and was near with post-traumatic accent disorder, arsenic good arsenic needing ongoing physiotherapy.

Prosecutors believed Kwan utilized a pesticide called iodomethane, though aggregate different poisons, including the ingredients for making ricin, were recovered astatine his location on with galore books, recipes and coercion manuals astir toxins.

Detectives besides recovered grounds of a a "back-up plan" which progressive a fake foundation sending escaped nutrient and wine.