GP jailed over 'audacious' fake Covid jab murder plot

A GP who disguised himself as a nurse and poisoned his mother’s partner with a fake Covid jab in an audacious” plot to murder him has been jailed for 31 years.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

Sunderland-based Dr Thomas Kwan, 53, admitted trying to kill Patrick O’Hara in an extraordinary plan that left the 72-year-old with a rare flesh-eating disease. He had initially denied the charge of attempted murder but changed his plea after he heard the prosecution open the case against him at Newcastle Crown Court last month.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to 31 years and five months behind bars by Judge Ms Justice Lambert, who said: “It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded in your objective.’’

The judge said Kwan tricked his victim and his estranged mother using “good forgeries” of NHS letters, adding: “By your masquerading, you struck at the heart of public confidence in the health care profession.” She said there was “no doubt” he plotted to kill Mr O’Hara for financial gain over the inheritance he felt entitled to.