A GP from Ingleby Barwick in on trial accused of attempted murder. Dr Thomas Kwan, 53, denies attempted murder of his mother's partner Patrick O'Hara, aged in his 70s, in Newcastle city centre on January 22 this year and the alternative charge of causing GBH with intent. He has pleaded guilty to administering a noxious substance at Newcastle Crown Court, reports Chronicle Live .
Hong Kong-born Kwan, of Brading Court, was a GP at Happy House Surgery in Sunderland before his arrest. In February searches were carried out at a property in Ingleby Barwick as part of the investigation. The NHS confirmed in a statement earlier this year that Mr O'Hara was not one of Dr Kwan's patients.
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Mr Makepeace continued: "It quickly became apparent Mr O’Hara was suffering from Necrotising Fasciitis, that is a rare and life-threatening, flesh-eating disease. Over the coming days Mr O’Hara underwent a series of surgical interventions as plastic surgeons and other specialists worked to stem the spread of the disease by cutting away the diseased flesh and the margins of that flesh with the healthy, in the hope of removing the source of infection as it was spreading. "Very considerable portions of Mr O’Hara’s arm flesh had to be removed in repeated p.