Fake NHS note forged by would-be killer GP was part of murder plan

Convincing-looking letters, purporting to be sent from the NHS, inviting Mr O’Hara to have a home Covid booster jab, were all part of would-be killer Kwan’s scheme to convince his intended victim that everything was above board.

During the hearing, which resulted in Kwan changing his plea to guilty to attempted murder, Newcastle Crown Court heard that in early November 2023, a year after Mr O’Hara’s last contact with Mr Kwan, he received a letter delivered to his home address in St Thomas Street, not far from Eldon Square and St James’ Park in the city.

Dated November 7, 2023, the letter was on NHS-headed paper.

(Image: Northumbria Police) It was purportedly authored by a Mr Raj Patel (RGN) of the “Community Associated Nursing Team”.

The letter informed the then 71-year-old Mr O’Hara he was a priority for the Community Home Visit and Nursing Care Services due to his age.

It introduced the services in detail and indicated that the community nursing team would be contacting him again in due course to arrange a home visit appointment.

Prosecuting counsel Peter Makepeace QC told the jury in his opening of the case, that the letter was “utterly convincing.”

Its use of medical terminology, deployment of NHS hyperlinks and data protection privacy notices, etc., gave it what Mr Makepeace described as, “a chilling authenticity.”

But as he told the jury: “The letter was in fact a total fake.

“It was authored by Mr Kwan on his home computer.

“He had carefully copied and pasted the NHS logo.

“The NHS Community Associated Nursing Team did not, in fact, exist.

“It was his (Kwan’s) invention. Mr Raj Patel (RGN) did not exist.”

It was a name Kwan chose to adopt as had had a colleague named Dr Raj Patel some years earlier.

Mr Makepeace said: “This letter was the first outward sign of the terrible scheme Mr Kwan had been planning to execute.

“The nature of that plan and methodology of that plan was cemented by this date.”

(Image: Northumbria Police) Kwan then booked a holiday via his practice manager in mid-December 2023, for dates between January 22 and 26, this year.

Mr Makepeace said: “Thus, the provisional date span of his plan was set.

“He had booked a window of opportunity.”

Mr O’Hara was to receive a second letter, also purportedly from the NHS Community Associated Nursing Team, dated January 3, 2024.

Mr Makepeace said, once more, this document was “consummately convincing”.

Making reference to the earlier letter, it advanced the medical benefits of seasonal vaccinations and was, again, ostensibly authored by Raj Patel.

It included a QR code to allow Mr O’Hara to complete a short medical questionnaire to submit.

Mr Makepeace said, “most significantly”, it offered Mr O’Hara a home visit by a community health team member on Monday January 22, between 9am and 1pm.

The letter was careful to stress that if Mr O’Hara was unavailable on that date he could change it to another date that week.

Mr Makepeace said: “Once again, the letter was a fake, very carefully and painstakingly prepared by Mr Kwan on his home computer.

“As, I suspect, would any of us would do, Mr O’Hara fell for it hook, line and sinker.

“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.”

Kwan even sent Mr O’Hara a text message to his mobile phone, supposedly from the NHS Community Health Care Team, on January 21, gently reminding him that his home visit appointment was due the next day, between 9am and 1pm.

Mr Makepeace said: “We all know how much of the NHS’s time is wasted and squandered on appointments that people fail to meet, but of course it wasn’t the NHS who were anxious not to waste a visit, it was Mr Kwan who sent that text message.

“Of course, he had a problem, he couldn’t send it from his own phone.

“He knew full well there would be an intensive police investigation consequent to the actions he was about to commit.

“He knew that using his own mobile phone number would, firstly, potentially alert Mr O’Hara and, secondly, leave a clear trail straight back to him for the police to follow.

“He dealt with that risk by securing a fresh SIM card to use specifically for this purpose.”

The court heard that following his arrest, Kwan’s home in Ingleby Barwick was searched and, from a lockable tin box, the police recovered a clear grip seal plastic bag containing a SIM card together with two slips of paper with the phone number 07599 998835 written on, the phone number for that SIM.

Examination of that SIM card by the forensic services showed Kwan had entered Mr. O’Hara’s contact details onto the device about nine minutes before this text was sent.

Mr Makepeace added that while in prison awaiting trial, Kwan was to tell his wife he had been stupid in not disposing of evidence prior to his arrest.

“No doubt this is one of the very many things he was speaking of.”

Speaking after Kwan’s change of plea to guilty, on Monday (October 7), in the face of the weight of evidence against him, Detective Chief Inspector Henry, who led the Northumbria Police inquiry, said: “Thomas Kwan’s actions were utterly despicable.

(Image: The Press Association) “He used his experience as a doctor to deceive the victim into thinking the medical appointment he had arranged was genuine before administering the poison which has caused him unimaginable pain and suffering.

“Thanks to the co-operation of the victim and the dedicated work of our team of officers during the past 10 months, we have been able to uncover Kwan’s scheming.

“Kwan thought he had covered his tracks by using fake registration plates on his vehicle and disguising himself during his visit to administer the injection.

“However, our quick-time enquiries managed to uncover his plotting and within two days of the offence he was in custody.

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“The weight of evidence faced by Kwan was overwhelming and he has now admitted attempted murder.”

He added: “While nothing can change the impact of Kwan’s actions on his victim, we do hope the fact he has been brought to justice will help them move on with their life.”

Kwan, 53, of Brading Court, who is subject of an interim suspension by the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service, will be sentenced back at the court, on October 17.