Charges Possible In Hoax Call About Kate Middleton Followed By Jacintha Saldanha's Suicide
Detectives investigating the suicide of a nurse who answered a prank phone call at a London hospital treating Kate Middleton passed an evidence file to prosecutors, police said Saturday, Dec. 22.
Public prosecutors must determine whether the case is strong enough to bring charges over the party responsible for the hoax call that happened earlier in December.
"Officers submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for them to consider whether any potential offenses may have been committed by making the hoax call," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
The nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanged in her hospital living quarters in London only a few days after she answered a hoax call from two Australian radio hosts who impersonated members of Britain's royal family. She passed the phone call to another nurse who, under the impression that she was talking to members of the royal family, disclosed details about Prince William's wife, Middleton, and her condition.
The duchess of Cambridge was admitted to the hospital for acute morning sickness following a public announcement from the palace that she was pregnant with her first child.
Australian radio DJ's Mel Greig and Michael Christian called King Edward VII hospital in London on Dec. 4, put on fake British accents to impersonate the Queen and Prince Charles, and asked about Middleton's condition. They later replayed the call on air and talked about the information they got on their Twitter page.
Southern Cross Austereo, the media company that owns the 2Day FM station where the hosts worked, announced on Dec. 10 that Greig and Christian will stay off the air "until further notice," their Hot30 show has been canceled and prank calls are banned across the company. The hosts also apologized for their hoax call.
MSN reported that media outlets in Britain are currently facing pressure to agree to "a new system of self-regulation" and to avoid state intervention following investigation into reporting practices and ethics.
