Jacintha Saldanha Prank: Royal Hoax DJs Face No Charges But Show Cancelled
Two Australian radio hosts who prank called the hospital treating Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton will face no criminal charges over the death of the nurse who answered the phone and later committed suicide, British prosecutors said Friday.
DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian at radio station 2Day FM called a London hospital on Dec. 4, 2012, pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles, asking about Middleton's health. The princess was at the time admitted to the hospital for morning sickness following announcement of her pregnancy with Prince William's child.
Indian-born nurse Jacintha Saldanha, 46, answered the hoax call and passed it on to another nurse who relayed details about Middleton's health condition to the DJs, thinking she was talking to members of the royal family. Three days after the hoax call surfaced among media reports, Saldanha was found hanged in her hospital lodgings.
An investigation began into a possible connection between the hoax call made by the DJs and the reason for Saldanha committing suicide.
"We have concluded that there is no evidence to support a charge of manslaughter," Malcolm McHaffie, Deputy Head of Special Crime at Britain's Crown Prosecution Service, said Friday. "However misguided, the telephone call was intended as a harmless prank."
Days after Saldanha's death, British police said three notes had been discovered with her body and media reported that one blamed the DJs while another criticized staff at London's King Edward VII hospital. The Australian DJs apologized for their prank call and said Saldanha's death left them "heartbroken" and "shattered."
2DayFM this week officially cancelled Greig and Christian's radio show, which had been off the air since the incident. The station added that the DJs will be back on air, although no date for their return was given.
"We look forward to Mel [Greig] and MC [Christian] returning to work when the time is right, in roles that make full use of their talents- we will discuss future roles with them when they are ready," Southern Cross Austereo chief executive Rhys Holleran told The Associated Press.
