Hoaxes & Pranks

[rynner2]

Kate hoax call: London hospital protests to radio network

The London hospital which employed a nurse caught up in a hoax call about details of the Duchess of Cambridge has protested to the Australian network which broadcast the conversation.
The chairman of King Edward VII Hospital wrote to Southern Cross Austereo a day after Jacintha Saldanha, 46, apparently killed herself.
Lord Glenarthur said the consequences of the "ill-considered actions" were "frankly, tragic beyond words".

The show has been taken off air.
The Sydney station, 2Day FM, is owned by Southern Cross Austereo. It has suspended all advertising.

Lord Glenarthur wrote to the chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, Max Moore-Wilson, on Saturday, about the call made on Tuesday while the duchess was being treated for acute morning sickness.

The DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, impersonated the Queen and the Prince of Wales, and their call was put through by duty nurse Mrs Saldanha to the duchess' nurse who then unwittingly revealed details of the pregnant duchess's medical condition.
The call was recorded before being assessed by the station's lawyers and then broadcast.

"King Edward VII's Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call," Lord Glenarthur wrote.
"Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station's management, was truly appalling."

Lord Glenarthur added: "The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients.

"The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words.
"I appreciate that you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated."

The BBC understands Mrs Saldanha had not been suspended or disciplined by the hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, the company's chief executive, Rhys Holleran, said the DJs were "completely shattered" by the death.
Australian media watchdog, Australian Communications and Media Authority, has received complaints about the hoax call even before the death, and more afterwards.

Mrs Saldanha's body was found at accommodation near the hospital. Her husband and two children in Bristol were said to be being comforted by family and friends.
A friend at the address said they were "very, very shocked and unhappy at the tragedy".
A bouquet of flowers was propped up against iron gates at the house.

Strong criticism has also come from nursing groups, both in the UK and Australia.
The Royal College of Nursing chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: "It is deeply saddening that a simple human error due to a cruel hoax could lead to the death of a dedicated and caring member of the nursing profession."

The New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association said it has written to the general manager of 2Day FM, Jeremy Simpson, even before the death, explaining the "very serious professional consequences" if it had happened to a nurse in Australia.
Association general secretary Brett Holmes said the nurses involved could potentially have had to go through three separate disciplinary processes, including those conducted by their employer and other inquiries conducted by the regulating authority and the Health Care Complaints Commission.
He described these processes as "stressful and deeply traumatic experiences for many nurses and midwives, regardless of the level of wrongdoing".

He said he hoped the station "has undertaken to never again attempt to jeopardise their professional standing by perpetrating such a deception against another hardworking nurse or midwife".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20650721

 

[rynner2]

Duchess hoax call radio hosts 'fragile' as Metropolitan Police make contact
The two Australian radio hosts behind the prank call to the Duchess of Cambridge’s hospital are “fragile” and receiving intensive counselling amid global outrage over their tragic stunt.
By Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney
10:36AM GMT 09 Dec 2012

Mel Grieg and Michael Christian will speak to the media but the timing will depend on their state of mind, according to a spokeswoman for Southern Cross, the owner of their radio station 2Day Fm.
Neither has appeared publicly since the death on Friday of the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who took their prank call to King Edward VII Hospital. Mr Christian is believed to be in a Sydney hotel while Ms Grieg's whereabouts is unknown.

Police in New South Wales said they have been contacted by London Metropolitan Police about the prank though there has not yet been a specific request for information.
"They simply wanted to touch base, raise the issues, make us aware of them," said Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas. “Nothing has been requested of us yet."

The board of Southern Cross is holding a crisis meeting today amid ongoing fury over the stunt. The company has already suspended all advertising on 2Day FM and removed the two hosts from the air.

The company’s chairman, Max Moore-Wilton, who was former prime minister John Howard's chief public servant, has received a letter of complaint about the hoax from Lord Glenarthur, the hospital’s chairman. Lord Glenarthur urged Mr Moore-Wilton to ensure the "truly appalling" broadcast of the hoax call "could never be repeated".

...

"We're considering that letter and I'll be responding to them after I discuss it with my board colleagues later today," Mr Moore-Wilton said.

Ms Grieg and Mr Christian have faced a barrage of condemnation on social media, including claims they have “blood on their hands”.
However, mental health experts have warned that they could themselves become suicide risks and urged that they receive counselling and community support.

Southern Cross is under growing pressure over the incident, especially as its flagship station, 2Day FM, has been involved in several previous controversies, including a notorious incident three years ago in which a host quizzed a 14-year-old girl about her sexual activity.

"We have taken action previously, but as I say, the chief executive officer is responsible for the operations of the organisation within the framework that the board broadly sets," Mr Moore-Wilton said.
"This is one part of our business, it's not all of our business, and it's one station in 80 stations."

The CEO of Southern Cross, Rhys Holleran, on Saturday described the incident as tragic but insisted its staff “haven’t done anything illegal”.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, said it had received many complaints about the stunt and there were calls for the presenters to be sacked.
Advertisers have already withdrawn support from the station following the prank.

Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, called Mrs Saldanha’s death a terrible tragedy, saying: “Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.” Mrs Saldanha’s family, both in Bristol where she lived with her husband and two teenage children, and in India, where she trained as a nurse, were said to be shocked and devastated.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ntact.html

 

[rynner2]

Before the shit hit the fan:

Michael Christian had basked in the attention that he and his colleague Mel Greig, a former reality TV star, had obtained for their hospital hoax.

"The only bad thing about our Royal Prank… is knowing that I will NEVER EVER top this,'' he posted on Facebook. "Less than a week in the job & I've already peaked."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20651246

It could indeed prove to be a meteoric career - a brief flash of light, followed by darkness.

 

[rynner2]

Duchess hoax: Australian radio station 'sought permission'

The Australian radio station at the centre of the UK royal hospital hoax death says it tried to contact the nurses involved to seek permission to broadcast the taped conversation.
Sydney station 2DayFM said at least five attempts were made.
King Edward VII's Hospital said it had no comment to make on the claim.

Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead three days after putting through a call that gathered details of the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge's condition.
The duchess had been in hospital with an extreme form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum.

The hoax call was made by DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who have been taken off air and are being counselled.
The pair are expected to break their silence on Monday in an interview to be broadcast on Australian television.
The Nine Network said the pre-recorded interview was "raw and emotional".

Meanwhile, 2DayFM has said it is going to review its broadcasting practices.
In an interview with a Melbourne radio station 3AW, Rhys Holleran - whose company Southern Cross Austereo owns 2DayFM - said his staff had tried several times to make contact with Mrs Saldanha and another nurse at the King Edward VII's Hospital to get their permission to use the prank conversation before it was transmitted.
Mr Holleran said the death of Mrs Saldanha was "tragic" and "regrettable", but that it "could not have been foreseen".

Some legal experts in Australia have said that if the radio station did not tell the nurses they were being recorded, or received their permission to broadcast the conversation, they may be in breach of a number of laws.

etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20661961

Sounds like they need to fire the legal staff who gave the broadcast the OK, then.

 

[Quake42]

The hospital denies that any such request was received. Even if an attempt to contact the hospital was made, it seems pretty clear it never succeeded, but the station decided to go ahead anyway.

The lawyers do seem to have dropped the ball on this one.

 

[amester]

I just can't seem to muster any tears whatsoever for these monsters. They only seem sorry that they were caught.

Duchess hoax call radio hosts 'fragile' as Metropolitan Police make contact
The two Australian radio hosts behind the prank call to the Duchess of Cambridge’s hospital are “fragile” and receiving intensive counselling amid global outrage over their tragic stunt.
By Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney
10:36AM GMT 09 Dec 2012

Mel Grieg and Michael Christian will speak to the media but the timing will depend on their state of mind, according to a spokeswoman for Southern Cross, the owner of their radio station 2Day Fm.
Neither has appeared publicly since the death on Friday of the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who took their prank call to King Edward VII Hospital. Mr Christian is believed to be in a Sydney hotel while Ms Grieg's whereabouts is unknown.

Police in New South Wales said they have been contacted by London Metropolitan Police about the prank though there has not yet been a specific request for information.
"They simply wanted to touch base, raise the issues, make us aware of them," said Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas. “Nothing has been requested of us yet."

The board of Southern Cross is holding a crisis meeting today amid ongoing fury over the stunt. The company has already suspended all advertising on 2Day FM and removed the two hosts from the air.

The company’s chairman, Max Moore-Wilton, who was former prime minister John Howard's chief public servant, has received a letter of complaint about the hoax from Lord Glenarthur, the hospital’s chairman. Lord Glenarthur urged Mr Moore-Wilton to ensure the "truly appalling" broadcast of the hoax call "could never be repeated".

...

"We're considering that letter and I'll be responding to them after I discuss it with my board colleagues later today," Mr Moore-Wilton said.

Ms Grieg and Mr Christian have faced a barrage of condemnation on social media, including claims they have “blood on their hands”.
However, mental health experts have warned that they could themselves become suicide risks and urged that they receive counselling and community support.

Southern Cross is under growing pressure over the incident, especially as its flagship station, 2Day FM, has been involved in several previous controversies, including a notorious incident three years ago in which a host quizzed a 14-year-old girl about her sexual activity.

"We have taken action previously, but as I say, the chief executive officer is responsible for the operations of the organisation within the framework that the board broadly sets," Mr Moore-Wilton said.
"This is one part of our business, it's not all of our business, and it's one station in 80 stations."

The CEO of Southern Cross, Rhys Holleran, on Saturday described the incident as tragic but insisted its staff “haven’t done anything illegal”.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority, which regulates radio broadcasting, said it had received many complaints about the stunt and there were calls for the presenters to be sacked.
Advertisers have already withdrawn support from the station following the prank.

Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, called Mrs Saldanha’s death a terrible tragedy, saying: “Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.” Mrs Saldanha’s family, both in Bristol where she lived with her husband and two teenage children, and in India, where she trained as a nurse, were said to be shocked and devastated.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ntact.html

 

[Quake42]

I just can't seem to muster any tears whatsoever for these monsters. They only seem sorry that they were caught.

I think calling them "monsters" is a little strong. It was a crass and thoughtles stunt but I don't think there was any real malice in it and as I said earlier on the thread the extreme outcome could not have reasonably been foreseen.

What I find more surprising is that the (pre-recorded) call was broadcast at all, given that it had gone past station management and lawyers. Most people accept that medical information should remain confidential.

 

[Sergeant_Pluck]

Agree with Quake. I actually have some sympathy for the presenters and I think the Australian press are absolutely right in describing the British press's reportage as a 'witch hunt'.

It was a reasonably humourous prank, as far as pranks go - not done with any malice, and a bit daft. I think 'crass and thoughtless' is a bit strong, though - I think just about every prank in history could be considered so, and to describe it as such contains an element of hindsight.

But, as I said on this thread last week - somewhat prophetically, if I say so myself - you have to be careful with 'prankage'. Nobody knows what state of mind this woman was in, or the one in the room with Kate, for that matter. Certainly, in every photo I've seen of this Jacintha, she looks miserable and like she has the weight of the world on her already. It's inappropriate to speculate, but maybe she already had problems in her life and this was the final straw.

Same principle with the 'ghost girl in the Brazilian elevator' gag last week that my original comment was about. When someone drops down dead of heart failure after seeing it, it isn't going to be so funny then, is it?

 

[Quake42]

It was a reasonably humourous prank, as far as pranks go - not done with any malice, and a bit daft. I think 'crass and thoughtless' is a bit strong, though - I think just about every prank in history could be considered so, and to describe it as such contains an element of hindsight.

You're right, but I think what often gets forgotten with pranks like this is that real people - often low level employees - can end up being sacked or disciplined because their employer has been made to look foolish. A couple of minutes laughter for an audience, a wrecked career for an otherwise blameless employee.

Similarly, I always feel slightly uncomfortable with the likes of Michael Moore and Mark Thomas turning up at big companies to make a fuss and/or pull off some stunt to make a point. The matter they are highlighting may be very important but all too often it turns into bullying secretaries and security guards.

That's quite apart from the fact that Kate Middleton's medical records should be treated as sensitively as anyone else's and not broadcast around the greater Sydney area.

 

[Cherrybomb]

Similarly, I always feel slightly uncomfortable with the likes of Michael Moore and Mark Thomas turning up at big companies to make a fuss and/or pull off some stunt to make a point. The matter they are highlighting may be very important but all too often it turns into bullying secretaries and security guards.

Yup, I've always felt that. Mark Thomas would go somewhere claiming to be fighting for the common man and yet he'd make some poor old security guard look like the bad guy.

I also wonder why this story is still in the news? Yes its a sad thing that happend, but really? Is there nothing else happening in the world?

 

[Sergeant_Pluck]

You're right, but I think what often gets forgotten with pranks like this is that real people - often low level employees - can end up being sacked or disciplined because their employer has been made to look foolish

Yes, that's a good point.

 

[Geedub]

I think what often gets forgotten with pranks like this is that real people - often low level employees - can end up being sacked or disciplined because their employer has been made to look foolish.

Indeed. And for me that's the heart of the matter. The 'pranksters' could never have been expected to forsee that their actions could lead to the dire consequences they have. They could, however, have reasonably been expected to forsee that fooling someone into breaching medical confidentiality would have consequences all of its own.
My partner is in hospital at the moment and talking to the nursing staff just after this so-called prank was aired, the first thing any of them said was that the nurse at the heart of it was sure to lose her job. OK, the hospital involved has contradicted this, but the feeling among front-line nurses was that this would have serious consequences.
Was this how the nurse involved felt too? Sadly we'll probably never know, but I can tell you that medical staff take confidentiality very seriously. Nurses have enough to deal with, without a pair of imbecilic halfwits trying to put one over on them for the sake of ratings.
Brought the radio station to the attention of the world though, which to be fair is
exactly what they set out to do...

 

[Sergeant_Pluck]

fooling someone into breaching medical confidentiality would have consequences all of its own.

But that's exactly the point. I'd consider it harsh to say that a nurse has breached confidentiality if she was fooled into doing so in the first place. If this woman really believed she was speaking to the Queen (and whose identity would presumably been confirmed by the switchboard anyway), then what's she going to say? Denying the Queen would have her job faster than any confidentiality. Ok, so it was daft to think this was actually the Queen, but it wasn't a deliberate dereliction of duty under confidentiality.

Besides, it's not as if she gave any explicit information anyway, apart from saying that Kate had had 'a restful night' or something.

 

[rynner2]

Nurse at centre of Kate Middleton phone call hoax was found hanged in flat alongside 'suicide note'
Jacintha Saldanha is understood to have been dead for some time
John Hall Wednesday 12 December 2012

The nurse at the centre of the Kate Middleton hoax phone call tragedy was found hanging in her apartment, it was reported today.
Jacintha Saldanha was discovered in the nurses’ quarters close to the King Edward VII hospital in central London on Friday morning.
The Evening Standard reported that she is understood to have been dead for some time.

Last Tuesday the 46-year-old mother of two transferred a phone call from two Australian radio DJs pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, to the ward where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness.
A second nurse then revealed personal information about the Duchess’ condition to the hoax callers.
Mrs Saldanha was the senior nurse on duty at the hospital in Marylebone when the phone call was made at 5:30am last Tuesday.

Yesterday it emerged that a suicide note was found alongside Mrs Saldanha’s body.
She had not told her family that she was involved in the hoax call incident in any way, meaning the suicide note could provide the only clue to Mrs Saldanha’s state of mind when she chose to take her own life.

Mrs Saldanha’s family today spoke of their anxiety over her death.
Her brother Naveen, who lives in Mangalore said: “We are under tremendous stress of what is happening there and are worried.”
He added he was hoping for the body to be released to the family this week so they could start making arrangements for her funeral in India.

The family have also repeated demands for a full inquiry into Mrs Saldanha’s death.
Although bosses have stated it will conduct internal inquiries, Mrs Saldanha’s husband Ben, 49, and their two children Junal, 17 and Lisha, 14, say they need to “know everything”.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, who is representing the family, met with the hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur to demand a full inquiry into her death.
He said: “The family should be given the full facts. That’s what they need at this time.”
Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that the family should be given all the facts when he was questioned by Mr Vaz at the House of Commons liaison committee yesterday.

Bosses at the Australian radio station, 2Day FM, which made the hoax call, have come under fire for giving the go-ahead for the prank.
They said they would be donating a minimum of £326,643 to a memorial fund set up in Mrs Saldanha’s name by King Edward VII Hospital, and have also cancelled their Christmas party.

The results of the post-mortem examination will be released tomorrow at the opening of the inquest into her death.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 05954.html

Whether the suicide note will ever reach the public domain, I don't know. But it seems to me that, as Senior nurse at the time, Mrs Saldanha felt resposible for the whole sorry mess. Perhaps it will all come out at the Inquest.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

I'd like to know why she took her own life over what everyone would have considered a relatively innocent mistake.

 

[rynner2]

I'd like to know why she took her own life over what everyone would have considered a relatively innocent mistake.

Being in charge, she presumably took her responsibilities very seriously, and she might have been aware (as earlier discussion here suggested) that she could end up carrying the can for this. She had, effectively, authorised the other nurse to speak to the 'Queen' and 'Charles'.

But this is just speculation - there could be other factors which may be revealed at the Inquest.

 

[Cherrybomb]

I'd like to know why she took her own life over what everyone would have considered a relatively innocent mistake.

Agreed!

 

[rynner2]

I'd like to know why she took her own life over what everyone would have considered a relatively innocent mistake.

Agreed!

You don't seem to understand the importance of 'responsibility'. It's a very wide concept. When I was skippering boats, I was totally responsible for what happened to the vessel and its crew. If somebody else made a mistake, it was still my responsibility; perhaps I didn't make my instructions clear enough, or supervise the operation carefully enough, or ensure that the gear was in good order, etc, etc.

One of Jacintha Saldanha's responsibilities was for the privacy of her patients, and she may have felt that in this case she had failed badly. The fact that Royalty was involved would only have magnified the problem for her. She couldn't say, "Oh, it was just a joke. Let's all have a good laugh, eh?" She would have realised there could be a Hospital enquiry, and she could be reprimanded, demoted, or even fired as a result.

Sadly, there are few 'innocent mistakes'.

 

[Quake42]

As Rynner says - she probably took her job very seriously. Even if no formal disciplinary action had been taken or planned, I don't doubt that her bosses b*ll*cked her for falling for what was not a terribly good impression of the Queen.

I'm sure most of us can remember feeling dreadful about an innocent mistake we have made at work, even if the mistake was not in and of itself of great consequence. Imagine how much worse you would feel if the details of that mistake had been rehearsed for days in the world's media.

 

[Pete Younger]

It's also worth remembering that she was from a culture that feels shame much more keenly than we in the west.

 

[Cherrybomb]

Yes, I understand responsibility, but what she went on to do seems rather extream, IMHO. I also don't see the point in the media dragging this out any further, it won't help her or her family - although it prob fills an other wise empty space

 

[Fluttermoth]

I think we must also must consider that this poor lady might already have been suffering mental health issues before this happened, and that this was just the thing that tipped her 'over the edge', as it were

That was my first thought when I heard the news.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

So what if the queen really did ring and sha answers "How do I kno you are the real queen?" what then? off with her head?

responsibility if more of a buzz-word if you are an air-traffic controller.

 

[ramonmercado]

So what if the queen really did ring and sha answers "How do I kno you are the real queen?" what then? off with her head?

responsibility if more of a buzz-word if you are an air-traffic controller.

There should have been a protocol in place to deal with communications from the Palace / Royal Family. That is the responsibility of senior management.

 

[Mythopoeika]

So what if the queen really did ring and sha answers "How do I kno you are the real queen?" what then? off with her head?

responsibility if more of a buzz-word if you are an air-traffic controller.

There should have been a protocol in place to deal with communications from the Palace / Royal Family. That is the responsibility of senior management.

Yes indeed.

 

[Geedub]

I'd consider it harsh to say that a nurse has breached confidentiality if she was fooled into doing so in the first place. If this woman really believed she was speaking to the Queen (and whose identity would presumably been confirmed by the switchboard anyway), then what's she going to say? Denying the Queen would have her job faster than any confidentiality. Ok, so it was daft to think this was actually the Queen, but it wasn't a deliberate dereliction of duty under confidentiality.

Besides, it's not as if she gave any explicit information anyway, apart from saying that Kate had had 'a restful night' or something.

On this occasion the nurse who apparently took her own life WAS acting as the switchboard. She put the call through to a second nurse who gave out information. As Rynner said the poor woman would have felt a responsibility the rest of us can only guess at. Add to that the fact (and to be honest I'm assuming here) she probably only spoke English as a second language and the whole stunt becomes even more reprehensible. The two DJs' fake accents may have been 'comical' to the rest of us, but there's every chance she wouldn't have recognised them as such.

As per my previous post nurses take medical confidentiality extremely seriously. Regardless of what was actually revealed these two idiots managed to breach what is a strict rule.

Ignore for the moment that this was a stunt involving the royals (irrelevant in my opinion anyway) and ask yourself if you would be happy if two ratings-seeking non-entities from around the world conned their way past the nursing staff to obtain private information about one of your relatives in hospital.

I didn't find this stunt funny in the first place, for the reasons I have stated, and I find it nothing less than tragic now.

Again though, as per my previous post, the station has got exactly what it wanted. Worldwide notoriety.

 

[Quake42]

There should have been a protocol in place to deal with communications from the Palace / Royal Family. That is the responsibility of senior management.

Perhaps there was and she didn't realise/forgot about it/ignored it. It was 5.30 in the morning. She may have just been tired.

I'm a bit reluctant to put everything down to a lack of procedures or systems. Sometimes sh*t happens and/or people just make a bad call and we need to be able to accept this without necessarily playing the blame game.

 

[escargot]

On a lighter note*, Brighton's xmas lights

A video apparently featuring Brighton's xmas lights, with special arrangements by a disgruntled employee! :lol:

* see what I did there

 

[rynner2]

Back to the Prank phone call:

Jacintha Saldanha suicide note criticised hospital staff
Inquest hears that nurse who died after Duchess of Cambridge hoax call left three letters before apparently taking her own life
Sandra Laville and Caroline Davies
The Guardian, Thursday 13 December 2012 19.47 GMT

One of three apparent suicide notes left by the nurse at the centre of the royal hoax phone call criticised staff at the King Edward VII hospital where she worked, the Guardian has learned.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanged in her apartment in the nurses' quarter of the hospital in Marylebone, central London, by a colleague and a security officer, an inquest into her death heard on Thursday. Three notes were found, two at the scene and one in the nurse's belongings.

She was found dead three days after two DJs rang the hospital from Australia posing as the Queen and Prince Charles in a prank call which Saldanha answered and put through to another nurse on the ward where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for morning sickness.

The dead woman's family has been given typed copies of the three handwritten notes by the police and has read the contents, the Guardian has been told.
One note deals with the hoax call by the DJs from 2Day FM, another details her requests for her funeral, and the third addresses her employers, the hospital, and contains criticism of staff there, the Guardian understands from two separate sources.

The Westminster coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, was told at the formal opening of the inquest that she had been found hanging in her apartment and there were also injuries to her wrists.
The hearing was told that paramedics who attended the scene in Weymouth Street made several attempts to revive her.

Scotland Yard is investigating a number of emails which the inquest heard were relevant to the nurse's death, as well as telephone calls made to and from her phone in the days before her death.

The Labour MP Keith Vaz, who is acting as a spokesman for Saldanha's husband and two children, published a letter from him to John Lofthouse, chief executive of the King Edward Vll hospital, calling for the "full facts" of what happened to be given to the family.

Earlier this week the nurse's family met Lofthouse and handed over a list of questions they want answered. Vaz said in his letter to Lofthouse: "I have dealt with similar cases in the past and I would agree with the prime minister that the family need to get the full facts, from the time she took the call from 2Day FM to the time she was found in her accommodation.
"The family gave you a list of questions that they wish the hospital to answer so that they can have the full facts of the case. I know they would appreciate answers to their questions in writing as soon as possible. They may also have additional questions."

Detective Chief Inspector James Harman said at the inquest that the Metropolitan police would be contacting officers in New South Wales as part of its inquiry. He said: "On Friday 7 December Jacintha Saldanha was found by colleagues and a member of security staff. At this time there are no suspicious circumstances apparent to me in relation to this death.
"A number of notes were recovered. Two notes were at the scene and a further note was found in the deceased's belongings. Three notes in total."

Saldanha, a mother of two, was identified by her husband, an accountant, the inquest heard.

Harman told the hearing: "There are a number of emails that are of relevance in helping us establish what may have led to this death and we are also looking at the deceased's telephone contacts. Detectives spoke to a number of witnesses, family, friends and colleagues in order to establish anything that led or may have contributed to this tragic death."

Saldanha was found three days after the DJs made the prank call. As the nurse on duty, she took the call and put it through to a colleague on the ward where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for morning sickness, who gave out information about her condition.

Harman told the coroner: "You will be aware of the wider circumstances of this case. And I expect in the very near future we shall be in contact with colleagues in New South Wales to establish the best means of putting the evidence before you."

The coroner's officer Lynda Martindill told the hearing that Saldanha, born in India, was a registered nurse and night nurse. Toxicology and histology test results were pending.

Adjourning the inquest until 26 March, Wilcox spoke directly to Saldanha's colleagues who attended the hearing. She said: "I wish to pass on my sympathy to you and her family and all those touched by this terribly tragic death"."

A spokeswoman for the hospital said no one in senior management knew what the contents of the notes left by Saldanha were. She said the hospital management "were very clear that there were no disciplinary issues in this matter".
Both the nurses involved had been offered "full support" and "it was made clear they were victims of a cruel journalistic trick", she said.

The hospital has offered bereavement counselling for the family in Bristol, which they have decided to take up, according to Vaz.
The family did not attend the hearing. Speaking outside the inquest Vaz said Saldanha's relatives were "grieving in their homes … They are comforting each other and the community is comforting them".
He said he had passed on the coroner's comments. The family were grateful to the coroner's office and Metropolitan police, he added.

A memorial service will be held in Bristol. A mass will be held in the chapel at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/de ... cide-notes

 

[Cherrybomb]

On a lighter note*, Brighton's xmas lights

A video apparently featuring Brighton's xmas lights, with special arrangements by a disgruntled employee! :lol:

* see what I did there

:lol: how festive!