Nurse's death following radio station's prank call ruled suicide
PUBLISHED : Friday, 12 September, 2014, 7:20pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 13 September, 2014, 3:02am
Reuters in London
Jacintha Saldanha was found dead in December 2012, a few days after a prank call from two Australian radio presenters about Kate Middleton's first pregnancy. Photos: AFP
A nurse found dead in her hospital lodgings after answering a prank call from two Australian radio presenters about Kate Middleton's first pregnancy two years ago committed suicide, an inquest ruled yesterday.
Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanging in December 2012, three days after she answered the call from Mel Greig and Michael Christian in which they had pretended to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
Saldanha put the call through to a colleague who disclosed details of Middleton's condition during treatment for an extreme form of morning sickness in the early stages of pregnancy, making headlines around the world.
Greig had flown over from Australia to attend the inquest at London's High Court. In a statement, she said to the nurse's family: "My thoughts continue to be with you. I am so deeply sorry for your loss. This tragedy will always stay with me and serve as a constant reminder."
The two-day inquest had heard that Saldanha blamed herself for the incident.
"The hoax call was clearly pressing on her mind," said coroner Fiona Wilcox, giving her suicide ruling.
On Thursday, the court heard that the hoax call was followed by four more calls to the hospital from the 2Day FM station seeking permission to broadcast it.
Fiona Barton, representing the hospital, said the subsequent calls had almost certainly also been answered by Saldanha.
"If she did answer those calls ... it could only have added to the stress she was under when she realised this was a prank call by a radio station," Barton said.
