Royal Prank Call Nurse 'Commits Suicide'

Kate Prank: Jacintha Saldanha Family's Grief
Sky News – 14 minutes ago

British police may want to speak to two Australian DJs following the death of the nurse who answered their prank call to the Duchess of Cambridge's hospital.
The Australian authorities confirmed they have received a request from the Met Police to interview 2Day FM presenters Michael Christian and Mel Greig, who hoaxed the King Edward VII's hospital where the pregnant Duchess was treated for extreme morning sickness.
Jacintha Saldanha - the nurse who took the call and put it through to colleague who divulged private information about Kate's treatment - was found dead on Friday.
New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said Scotland Yard had been in touch - but emphasized there was no suggestion that a crime had been committed.
He said: "There has been a request for assistance from London's Metropolitan Police to the New South Wales Police through the Australian Federal Police.
"The request has gone to the city central command - the area where the 2Day FM office is.
"I have to stress, it hasn't been indicated to us that an offence has occurred, they haven't actually asked for anything yet - they've simply touched base, let us know of their interest and they'll get back to us if they want something done.
"Nothing has been requested of us yet."
Scotland Yard confirmed contact had been made with the authorities in Australia but did not elaborate further.
Meanwhile, Ms Saldanha's family in the UK and India have been paying tribute to the mother of two teenagers.
Her daughter Lisha wrote on Facebook, "I miss you, I love you", while her husband Ben Barboza has set up a tribute page on the social networking site.
He wrote: "I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic cirmcumstances. She will be laid to rest in Shirva, India."
In India, her sister-in-law Celin D'Souza said: "I will really miss her a lot. She was a good-natured sister-in-law. I cannot forget her, she was so good."
The hospital where Ms Saldanha worked has condemned the stunt as "truly appalling" while a prominent Conservative MP has called for the DJs to be sacked.
In a letter to the Australian radio station 2day FM's parent company, Lord Glenarthur, Chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital, said he wanted to "protest" against the "extremely foolish" gag.
The letter to Southern Cross Austereo said the immediate consequence of the station's "premeditated and ill-considered actions" led to the "humiliation" of Ms Saldanha and another nurse.
"The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words," it added.
Tory MP Conor Burns, a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: "The presenters should lose their jobs and there needs to be a serious review as to what they regard as entertainment and what is inappropriate."
News of the nurse's death has led to a huge backlash against the two presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles during the prank on their 2day FM show.
Southern Cross Austereo said the pair are being "babysat" and kept away from hostile media coverage.
Spokeswoman Sandy Kaye said: "We're seriously concerned about their welfare and we’re doing whatever we can to help them."
The Duke of Cambridge made no comment on the situation as he attended a charity function in London on Saturday evening without Kate - who is resting after her three day stay in hospital.

Kate Prank Call 'Could End Radio Wind-Ups'
By Tom Parmenter, Sky News correspondent | Sky News – 2 hours 1 minute ago

One of Britain's most notorious DJs has told Sky News the death of a nurse after a prank call to the hospital treating the Duchess of Cambridge could mark the end of such radio wind-ups.
Steve Penk built his career winding up unsuspecting members of the public and high profile celebrities.
In 1998, his Capital Radio show famously got put through to then Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Mr Penk now believes the tragic consequences of a stunt that saw a nurse apparently take her own life days after putting a hoax call from two Australian DJs through to the ward where the pregnant duchess was being treated could change the entire radio industry.
He told Sky News: "I think there will be huge fallout. I think it will be, for want of a better phrase, the death of the wind-up phone call.
"Ofcom (media regulator) will wrap it in so much red tape that it will make it almost impossible to get these things on the air, which I think is a shame because they can be entertaining."
Mr Penk has duped hundreds of people through his career at various radio stations.
Often people were set up by friends or relatives who wrote in and suggested victims. Unlike the Australian stunt, permission was then sought from the victim before the calls were broadcast.
Mr Penk now owns The Revolution 962 in Oldham and has cancelled his latest prank show after the hoax call to the hospital treating the duchess.
He feels sympathy for the two DJs who are now being vilified for their role in the stunt.
He added: "You can't predict something like this, I genuinely feel very sorry for them.
"I think it is unfair that at the moment the blame is at their doorstep."

bb1 wrote:A 2Day FM source said the two DJs were being looked after in the devastating wake of their show and were now both in ‘lockdown’.
A close friend of Miss Greig said: ‘Everyone who knows Mel fears for her mental state. Yes, there are very real fears that she could self-harm and nobody wants that.
'Of course, she is blaming herself for what has happened. What was done in fun has turned out to be a horrible tragedy. She is close to a breakdown.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245309/Two-Australian-DJs-royal-hoax-gone-hiding-emerges-close-breakdown.html#ixzz2EYDDU04j
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What kind of moron thinks its 'fun' to play 'pranks' on hospitals and ill, pregnant women, and make nurses an international laughing stock?

Royal Prank DJs: 'We Just Want To Say Sorry'
Sky News – 6 minutes ago

Mel Greig and Michael Christian have given a series of interviews

The radio DJs behind a prank call to the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge have apologised after the nurse they duped apparently took her own life.
2Day FM presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian were posing as the Queen and Prince Charles when they got Jacintha Saldanha to put them through to another nurse, who divulged details of Kate's treatment for severe morning sickness.
In their first interview since the tragedy, Ms Greig said she wanted to say sorry to Ms Saldanha's husband and two children.
"I've just thought about this a million times in my head that I've wanted to just reach out to them and just give them a big hug and say sorry," she said, wiping away tears.
"I hope they're OK, I really do. I hope they get through this."
Mr Christian said: "We just hope that they get all the love and support and care that they need."
When asked how he felt he simply said: "Gutted, shattered, heartbroken."
Ms Greig told of the moment she was told of Ms Saldanha's death, describing it as "the worst phone call I've ever had in my life".
"I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened. I remember my first question was 'was she a mother?'"
The pair said the prank call idea came up in a team meeting, and that it was "collaborative" rather than a single individual's idea.
The DJs are on indefinite leave and have been getting "intensive" counselling to deal with the death of Ms Saldanha.

Speaking on Today Tonight on Channel Seven, Greig said: “It doesn’t seem real because you just couldn’t foresee something like that happening from a prank call. You know it was never meant to go that far. It was meant to be a silly little prank that so many people have done before. This wasn’t meant to happen.”

Christian said: “I don’t think that anyone could have predicted what could’ve happened. It was just a tragic set of circumstances that I don’t think anyone could have thought that we’d be here.” He insisted that they had assumed they would be hung up on, adding: “The call to begin with wasn’t about speaking to Kate. It wasn’t about trying to get a scoop or anything. The call was just - I mean we’d assumed that we’d be hung up on and that’d be that.”