GP admits plot to kill mother’s partner by poisoning him with fake COVID booster jab
A GP has admitted plotting to kill his mother’s partner by disguising himself as a community nurse and poisoning him with a fake COVID booster jab.
Thomas Kwan, 53, was on trial at Newcastle Crown Court and had initially denied attempted murder, but changed his plea after he heard the prosecution open the case against him.
Police initially thought the married father-of-one used the chemical weapon ricin to try to kill 72-year-old Patrick O’Hara at his mother’s home on 22 January, but an expert believed a pesticide was more likely.
Kwan sparked a major emergency services operation when police found lethal chemicals stored in the detached garage at his home in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside.
The Sunderland-based GP had already pleaded guilty to administering a noxious substance, claiming he meant to cause no more than mild pain.
Prosecutors said he meant to kill his mother’s partner of more than 20 years, who developed a rare flesh-eating disease as a result of the jab in his arm.
Part of Mr O’Hara’s arm had to be cut away to stop the disease from spreading, and he spent several weeks in intensive care after the injection.
The court heard Kwan posed as a community nurse and used a fake name to book a hotel in his plot.
Pic: Northumbria Police/PA
Victim did ‘absolutely nothing’ to Kwan
Opening the case Thursday, prosecutor Peter Makepeace KC said Mr O’Hara “had done absolutely nothing to offend Mr Kwan in any way whatsoever”.
The lawyer added: “He was, however, a potential impediment to Mr Kwan inheriting his mother’s estate upon her death.”
Jenny Leung, Kwan’s mother, had named Mr O’Hara in her will to the effect that he could stay in her home on St Thomas Street, Newcastle, should she die before her partner.
This led to a strained relationship between Kwan and Ms Leung, the court heard. Police were later called to the property after he burst in uninvited in November 2022.
Prosecutors also described Kwan as “money-obsessed” and noted he installed spyware on his mother’s laptop to monitor her finances.
Kwan had a strained relationship with his mother after she named Patrick O’Hara in her will.
Pic: Northumbria Police/PA
Fake names and nurse disguises
The Hong Kong-born doctor had developed an “encyclopaedic knowledge” of poisons, the court heard, and police discovered he studied how to get away with murder after analysing his home computers.
Mr Makepeace said Kwan had planned 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”.
In November 2023, Kwan wrote to Mr O’Hara as nurse Raj Patel, and offered a home visit to administer the booster jab.
“As, I suspect, would any of us, Mr O’Hara fell for it hook, line and sinker,” Mr Makepeace said.
“He had not the slightest suspicion that this was anything other than a genuine NHS community care initiative which he warmly welcomed and was grateful for.”
The court also heard the 53-year-old forged NHS documentation to set up the home visit, used false number plates for the journey to Newcastle and booked a city centre hotel using a false name.
When he attended the home, Kwan – wearing a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves, a medical mask and tinted glasses – carried out a 45-minute examination on Mr O’Hara.
He also checked his mother’s blood pressure when she asked, and told Mr O’Hara he needed a Covid booster, despite him having had one only three months prior.
While administering the injection, Mr O’Hara shouted in pain. Kwan told him the reaction was not uncommon while speaking in broken English using an Asian accent, and left the home quickly.
A day after the fake COVID jab, Mr O’Hara’s arm had become blistered and seriously discoloured as he developed necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease.
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A 19-year-old who murdered his family and wanted to be the worst mass killer the UK has seen had 33 cartridges on him to carry out an attack on his former school, a court has heard.
Nicholas Prosper shot his mother Juliana Falcon, 48, sister Giselle, 13, and shot and stabbed his brother Kyle, 16, at their family home in Luton on 13 September last year.
But he did not plan on stopping there, according to prosecutor Timothy Cray KC, who told Luton Crown Court he had prepared the murders “for months” and wanted to kill at least 30 schoolchildren.
“His planning was cold, deliberate and without sympathy or emotion towards the actual victims or potential victims,” he said, speaking at Prosper’s sentencing.
His “main wish”, however, was to “achieve lasting notoriety as a mass killer”, Mr Cray added, specifically to “imitate and even surpass other mass killers around the world”.
“He had conducted in-depth internet research on shootings in the United States of America, Norway, Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
“He understood his plans, if realised, would bring about the greatest number of deaths in a school or other mass shooting in the United Kingdom and possibly even in the United States of America.”
Nicholas Prosper
The investigation suggests that the defendant “acted alone”, he added, and “his plans did not arise from any political or ideological cause”.
Prosper had undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the court heard, but he showed an “extreme lack of empathy with others and an extreme lack of remorse” that can’t be explained by ASD alone.
Up until Year 11, the court heard Prosper was a “geeky” and quiet boy with a small group of friends who were into computers, but problems began in sixth form and he wouldn’t engage with mental health support.
Gruesome murders
Prosper never reached St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, which was three-quarters of a mile from his home, as police arrested him after he escaped to a wooded area.
After he left, officers broke into his family flat at about 5.50am, following a call from a neighbour.
There, the court heard, they found Prosper’s little sister underneath a dining table in the living room, “as if she had been trying to hide there”.
His mother and brother – who was stabbed more than 100 times – were both found in the hallway.
Giselle Prosper (left), Juliana Prosper (centre) and Kyle Prosper. Pic: family pics issued via Bedfordshire police
He had planned to kill his family in their sleep, but when his mother realised something was wrong and challenged him, it led to “an extended violent struggle”.
After the horrific and noisy attack on his family members, Prosper knew police would be on their way and so had to leave three hours earlier than he had anticipated.
The teenager was then arrested by a passing police patrol as he walked along a residential road in Luton.
He had hidden the shotgun and cartridges nearby.
Prosper admitted their murders at a hearing last month, as well as purchasing a shotgun without a certificate, possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger life and possession of a kitchen knife in a public place.
Plans long in the making
These killings were planned for more than a year, the court heard, with Prosper managing to buy a shotgun with a fake firearms certificate.
He had put together a black and yellow uniform he wanted to wear for his killing spree, and he had filmed a video of himself holding a plank of wood as a mock gun.
Nicholas Prosper has admitted killing his family
Read more:
Juliana Prosper ‘will be terribly missed’
‘He didn’t seem like he had anything wrong with him’
Prosper had included his own name, a picture and his real address on his fake firearms licence, the court heard.
He had also inserted the signature of a Bedfordshire Police firearms sergeant on 30 August last year.
On the same day, Prosper messaged a private seller who had advertised a shotgun for £450, offering to pay £600 if cartridges were included, Mr Cray said.
The seller agreed to drop the gun off to him on 12 September, the day before the killings, prompting Prosper to respond in a message: “I look forward to meeting you.”
Forensic examiners found Prosper had fired seven cartridges, the first being a test shot into a teddy bear in his bedroom.
Prosper’s step-by-step plan
A couple of months later, a prison officer found the notes in Prosper’s trainer sole after searching his cell on 13 November.
He had written the planned shooting would be “one of the biggest events ever,” Mr Cray said.
Tributes were left outside the home. Pic: PA
“I was right in predicting no-one would’ve called the police had I killed them in their sleep. 3 shots under 30 seconds,” he had written.
“The only known phone call to police that day was made by the b**** at the door as a result of my B**** mother waking them up and it being turned into a long struggle.
“My plan wasn’t ‘stupid’. I was f****** right. MY MOTHER IS A STUPID F****** COW.”
The notes continued: “But why so early? So I’d have time to cannibalise my family, and rape a woman at knife point before the shooting.”
He had also written a step-by-step plan, detailing he would jump two gates and shoot down a glass door while children were together for “prayer/registration”.
He would then “shout that this is a robbery and for everyone to get down”, before shooting two teachers and killing children at Early Years Foundation Stage – the youngest.
That part of the note finished with: “Go to the next classroom. Kill a couple more. Suicide.”
‘Pain will never heal’
His father, who was also dad to Giselle and Kyle, said part of his soul died when he found out what his son had done.
In a statement read out by Mr Cray, Raymond Prosper said: “The pain of our loss will never be healed. This includes my whole family, our lives will never be the same.
“When I heard the horrific news on that day, part of my soul died too. This is a lose-lose situation for us all.”
The sentencing hearing continues.
The eligibility criteria for disability benefits will be narrowed in a bid to slash £5bn from the welfare bill, Liz Kendall has announced.
Speaking in the Commons, the work and pensions secretary said the number of new people claiming personal independence payment (PIP) is “not sustainable”.
Politics Live: Reaction as welfare system reforms announced
She said the government will not freeze PIP – as reports had previously suggested – but instead make it harder to qualify for the daily living allowance component from November 2026.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is money for people who have extra care needs or mobility needs as a result of a disability.
People who claim it are awarded points depending on their ability to do certain activities, like washing and preparing food, and this influences how much they will receive.
Ms Kendall said that from November 2026, people will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of PIP.
Currently, the standard rate is given if people score between eight and 11 points overall, while the enhanced rate applies from 12 points.
The changes will not affect the mobility component, Ms Kendall said.
It’s not clear how many people will be impacted as a result. The Office for Budget Responsibility will set out their final assessment of the costings at the spring statement next week.
Charities and unions reacted angrily to the announcement, with the Disability Benefits Consortium urging the government to reverse the “cruel cuts”, saying it will be harder for disabled people to manage.
What other measures have been announced?
Ms Kendall also announced a review of the PIP assessment, which she said will be done “in close consultation with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts”.
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Young people brace for benefit reform
There will also be a consultation on delaying access to the health top up on universal credit until someone is aged 22, with the savings to be reinvested into work support and training opportunities.
And the Work Capability Assessment (WCA), which determines if a person is fit for work or not, will be scrapped in 2028 with financial support for people who are sick or disabled determined solely through the PIP assessment.
Ms Kendall said the WCA is based on a “binary can can’t work divide when we know the truth is that many people’s physical and mental health conditions fluctuate“.
“Reducing the number of assessments that people have to go through is a vital step towards de-risking work”, she added.
Other reforms announced today include:
- Merging jobseeker’s allowance and employment and support allowance
- Raising the standard universal credit allowance by £775 in 2029/30
- Introducing a “right to try” initiative so people who want to attempt to get back into work won’t lose their benefits while they do
Ms Kendall said: “This is a significant reform package that is expected to save over £5 billion by 2029.”
Chancellor looking for savings
The announcement comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to balance the books due to a poor economy and geopolitical events, with further spending cuts expected in her spring statement next week.
Rachel Reeves
The cost of long-term sickness and disability benefits for working-age people has risen by £20bn since the pandemic and is forecast to hit £70bn over the next five years.
Ministers have said there is also a moral case for change, with one in eight young people not in education, training or employment – prompting fears of a “wasted generation”.
Ms Kendall said that while more people are now living with a disability, the increase in those seeking disability benefits is disproportionate.
Claims amongst young people are up 150%, while claims for mental health conditions are up 190% and claims for learning difficulties are up over 400%, she said.
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Tories ‘held our country back’
Ms Kendall blamed the Tories for creating a system that is “holding our country back”.
She acknowledged that some people can never work, but said many sick and disabled people want to “with the right help and support” and they should “have the same chances and choices as everyone else”.
Reports ahead of the announcements had suggested there was unease around the cabinet table, with ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said to have voiced concerns in private.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman insisted this morning that the government is united in its agreement on the need for reform.
Call to reverse ‘cruel cuts’
Charles Gillies, of the Disability Benefit Consortium, said: “These immoral and devastating benefits cuts will push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people’s health.”
He said changes to personal independence payments will make it harder for disabled people to manage “the overwhelming additional costs of their condition, from wheelchairs to visits from carers”, calling on the government to reverse the “cruel cuts”.
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