Australian DJ in tears at royal hoax inquest
LONDON — An Australian DJ who made a hoax call to a hospital caring for the Duchess of Cambridge has tearfully apologised to the family of a nurse who committed suicide after the broadcast.
Husband of late nurse Jacintha Saldanha Benedict Barboza (second left) accompanied by his son Junal (left) daughter Lisha (second right) Labour MP Keith Vaz (centre) and an unidentified man (right) arrive for an inquest into her death, at the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, Sept 12, 2014. Photo: AP
LONDON — An Australian DJ who made a hoax call to a hospital caring for the Duchess of Cambridge has tearfully apologised to the family of a nurse who committed suicide after the broadcast.
DJ Melanie Greig posed as Queen Elizabeth II during the call to the London hospital in December 2012. Nurse Jacintha Saldanha took the call, and passed it on to a colleague who described the condition of Kate, then pregnant with her first baby, to Greig and another DJ.
Three days after the call was broadcast worldwide, Saldanha was found dead in her room.
Coroner Fiona Wilcox did not criticise the DJs but told an inquest today (Sept 12) that the hoax had been pressing on Saldanha’s mind in the days before she took her life. AP
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