Esther Salifu
Karenjeet Kaur Warburton, a former nurse, has been sentenced to five years in prison suspended after 16 months for orchestrating a violent assault on her ex-boyfriend, Queensland Police Inspector Don McKay. Warburton paid a patient $3,000 to carry out the attack, which included plans to mutilate and permanently disable McKay.
Between April and October 2021, Warburton engaged patient Andrew Bown in a plot to inflict grievous harm on McKay, whom she had dated from March 2020 to early 2021. She provided Bown with photographs and details of McKay’s residence and used encrypted communication to discuss the attack.
The plan involved mutilating McKay’s genitals and tongue, burning his face with acid, severing his spine, and breaking his bones to ensure he could neither walk nor talk.
Tribunal member Julie Dick noted, “She had paid a significant amount and offered an even more significant amount to the proposed assailant.” Warburton’s efforts ceased only upon her arrest.
In November 2023, Warburton pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to procure grievous bodily harm and a malicious act with intent. She was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended after 16 months, with an operational period until November 2028.
Bown was sentenced in November 2022 to three-and-a-half years in prison, suspended after six months, for his role in the plot, which included arson and attempting to procure grievous harm.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal banned Warburton from practicing healthcare for four years, including time served. Ms. Dick remarked, “It is unfortunate that this serious behaviour has led to the respondent being in the difficult circumstances in which she now finds herself.”
