Doctor Gets 31 Years for Poisoning Mother's Partner With Fake COVID Vaccine
A doctor in the United Kingdom was sentenced to 31 years in prison this week after admitting to poisoning his mother's partner with a fake COVID-19 vaccine.
On Wednesday, British doctor Thomas Kwan received a 31-year prison sentence after disguising himself as a nurse conducting routine home visits and secretly administering 72-year-old Patrick O'Hara with a flesh-eating poison. Kwan reportedly believed that killing the older man would eventually clear his path to inherit his mother's home.
"It was an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight and you very nearly succeeded," Justice Christina Lambert said during the sentencing hearing. "You were certainly obsessed by money and more particularly, the money to which you considered yourself entitled."
The Case Against Thomas Kwan
British prosecutors alleged that Thomas Kwan posed as a community nurse offering COVID-19 booster shots and injected O'Hara with a dangerous substance, likely a pesticide. O'Hara later developed a rare flesh-eating disease, which resulted in his hospitalization and intensive care. According to prosecutors, O'Hara was next in line for the mother's inheritance behind her son, Kwan.
Kwan, 53, initially pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, however he reversed his plea last month after prosecutors presented their evidence at Newcastle Crown Court in northeast England, and he ultimately changing his plea to guilty.
During a trial, prosecutor Thomas Makepeace described Kwan as a "respected and experienced" family doctor from Sunderland, located roughly 15 miles from Newcastle. Makepeace told the court that Kwan leveraged his "encyclopedic knowledge" of poisons in a scheme to kill O'Hara. Makepeace also alleged that Kwan saw O'Hara as "a potential impediment" to inheriting his mother's estate.
O'Hara recovered after spending several weeks in intensive care and undergoing surgery to remove part of his arm in a bid to stop the spread of necrotizing fasciitis.
Kwan's Alleged Plan
Kwan was identified through surveillance camera footage, leading police to search his home. There, authorities discovered a stockpile of dangerous chemicals, including arsenic, liquid mercury and castor beans—the last of which can used to produce the deadly poison ricin.
Investigators uncovered Kwan's intricate scheme, which included sending fraudulent letters bearing National Health Service logos, hyperlinks, and even a QR code, all designed to offer O'Hara a home visit for a COVID booster. In January, Kwan arrived for the appointment in full protective gear—tinted glasses, a surgical mask, and head-to-toe coverings—driving a vehicle outfitted with fake license plates.
Kwan, reportedly fixated on poisons, selected iodomethane—a chemical commonly used in pesticides—that he believed would be challenging for medical professionals to detect, according to the judge.
Anger Over Inheritance
Kwan, frustrated over receiving a reduced inheritance after his father's death, had a tense relationship with his mother. He later discovered her will included a clause permitting O'Hara to remain in her home should she pass away before him.
"Your resentment and bitterness towards your mother and Mr. O'Hara was all to do with money and your belief you were not being given money which you thought you were entitled to," the judge said this week.
This includes reporting from The Associated Press.
