Ex-nurse paid man £1,500 to have cop boyfriend's genitals cut off after breakup

08 November 2023 , 11:41

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Karen Kaur Warburton has been jailed for the plot

An ex-nurse paid a man thousands to "cut off her boyfriend's d***" has been jailed.

Karen Kaur Warburton also conspired to have police inspector Don McKay's tongue cut out in the gruesome plot, paying a hitman $3,000 to carry out the crime, a court in Australia heard. The 50-year-old was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of attempting to procure grievous bodily harm and one count of attempting to procure a malicious act with intent.

Warburton had wanted to ensure Mr Warburton, an inspector for Queensland Police, would never "walk or talk again" following an acrimonious split, the court heard. She was jailed for five years and eight months for the plan as a judge branded her "cold and calculated".

Andrew Bown was roped into Warburton's plan

She wanted to seriously injure Don McKay

Accomplice Andrew Bown, who Warburton paid to carry out the sick crime, was meanwhile jailed for three-and-a-half years for his part in the plot, Courier Mail reports. Warburton and Insp McKay had been in a relationship from March 2020, but split the following year resulting in hostility between the two.

Cairns district court heard she paid Bown between April and October of that year, giving him photos of Insp McKay as well as his address, ordering him to attack. Bown then made several attempts but was ultimately unsuccessful.

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The court heard he also attempted to recruit two other individuals separately, one of whom sprayed the victim's home with lighter fluid setting it alight, causing $20,000 in damage. The other person declined to get involved.

The plot was foiled in September of that year when an undercover officer messaged Warburton on an encrypted messaging chat asking about her plans. Christian Peters, prosecuting, told the court the officer had suggested "severing [Insp McKay's] spinal cord" and breaking "multiple bones in his body".

Sentencing Warburton Judge Joshua Treviño KC said: "The seriousness in your offending is to be found not in the fact that no harm ultimately came to the complainant but rather that you made such plans in the first place." The judge added Warburton "had multiple opportunities to reassess" and "go no further" but opted not to do so.

Susie Beever