A nurse, Karenjeet Kaur Warburton, has been banned from practicing for four years after paying a patient $3,000 to inflict gruesome injuries on her former partner, a senior police officer, according to Daily Mail reports.
Warburton was in a relationship with Don McKay, a senior inspector in Queensland Police, from March 2020 until early 2021.
The Daily Mail revealed that the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal handed down its decision in March, although it was only published last week.
Tribunal member Julie Dick revealed that Warburton had approached a patient, Andrew Bown, whom she believed “might be up for” inflicting serious harm on McKay.
Between April 1 and October 6, 2021, Warburton provided Bown with photographs of McKay and details of his residence, along with $3,000 as payment for the intended assault.
“She had paid a significant amount and offered an even more significant amount to the proposed assailant,” Ms Dick stated in her tribunal decision.
According to the tribunal, Warburton also gave instructions for McKay’s “penis and tongue [to be] cut off, his face burnt with acid, his spine to be severed with a knife for the purpose of causing paralysis, or to break every bone in his body so that he could no longer walk or talk.”
Ms Dick emphasized that Warburton’s violent plan was only halted due to her arrest.
She later pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to procure grievous bodily harm and attempting to procure a malicious act with intent.
As a result, she was sentenced to five years in prison, with 16 months to be served before suspension.
When brought before the health tribunal, Warburton did not dispute allegations that she had committed professional misconduct by enlisting a patient to carry out her scheme.
As part of the ruling, the tribunal imposed a four-year ban on Warburton from working in healthcare—a term that includes her time already spent in custody.
“It is unfortunate that this serious behaviour has led to the respondent being in the difficult circumstances in which she now finds herself,” Ms Dick added.
“The tribunal is aware she will have to reapply for registration. Upon doing so, she will be confronted with having no recency of practice and there will be other steps that she might have to take.”
Bown, her co-conspirator, was charged with arson, attempting to procure grievous bodily harm, and possessing a dangerous item to aid in a crime.
In November 2022, the Cairns District Court sentenced him to three and a half years in prison.
