Thomas Kwan reportedly came up with a "audacious" plot that included using the fictitious medication to poison Patrick O'Hara while posing as a community nurse.

The 53-year-old, a partner at a Sunderland practice, disputes trying to kill Mr. O'Hara, who was 71 at the time, on January 22 in Newcastle's downtown at his mother Jenny Leung's house.

A different claim of intentional grievous bodily injury is also denied by him.

Although Kwan entered a guilty plea to giving a toxic drug, the prosecution argues that he intended to murder the elderly man.

The prosecutor, Peter Makepeace KC, said at Newcastle Crown Court: "Maybe once in a while, the truth is truly stranger than fiction.

"In January of this year, Mr. Thomas Kwan, the defendant in the case, was a well-respected and skilled general practitioner with a Sunderland-based GP's office.

Mr Makepeace also said that the defendant would claim that his intention was to cause "no more than mild pain or discomfort".

Mr O'Hara had been in a relationship with Ms Leung for over two decades and she had named him in her will so he could stay in her house should she die before him, jurors were told.

But this decision strained her relationship with her son, so much so police had to be called when Kwan burst into her house uninvited in November 2022, the court heard.

A year later, Kwan, who is married with a son, faked a letter from the NHS to Mr O'Hara "with chilling authenticity", Mr Makepeace said.

Claiming to be from a community nurse called Raj Patel, the letter offered Mr O'Hara a home visit, the jury was told.

Having stayed in a hotel under a false name, Kwan allegedly travelled to his mother's house in a long coat, flat cap, surgical gloves, medical mask, and tinted glasses, the court heard.

Posing as a nurse, he spent 45 minutes in his mother's house carrying out medical tests - he even checked his unsuspecting mother's blood pressure when she asked him to - the prosecution said.

It was alleged that Kwan, in what the court heard was broken English with an Asian accent, told Mr O'Hara that he needed a COVID booster, even though he had had one three months before.

After the injection, it was said that Mr O'Hara complained of a "terrible pain" but the nurse reassured him it was not uncommon, before packing his things and leaving, the court heard.

When Ms Leung commented that the man was the same height as her son, Mr O'Hara "began to suspect something was very wrong", jurors heard.

In pain, Mr O'Hara contacted his own GP and eventually learned that the NHS organisation that had written to him did not exist, the court was told.

When he arrived at A&E, Mr. Makepeace claimed, the professionals originally believed that his injuries were the result of a "clumsy" COVID vaccination.

But the next day, the court was informed, he reappeared with blisters and a "seriously discoloured" arm.

Following some early uncertainty, medical professionals determined that Mr. O'Hara had necrotizing fasciitis, which they described to the court as "a rare and life-threatening, flesh-eating disease."

Mr. O'Hara spent weeks in critical care when physicians had to remove the infected tissue from his arm over the course of the following several days.

The trial is still ongoing.