Jacintha Saldanha death: DJs apologise for hoax call

Mangalore Today News Network

SYDNEY, December 11, 2012: They expected a hang-up and a few laughs. Instead, the Australian DJs behind a hoax phone call to the London hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated were deeply apologetic on Monday as they described how their joke ended up going too far.

 

The call in which they impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles went through, and their station broadcast and even trumpeted the confidential information received. Whatever pride there had been over the hoax was obliterated by worldwide public outrage after Friday’s death, still unexplained, of Jacintha Saldanha, the first nurse they talked to.

“There’s not a minute that goes by that we don’t think about her family and what they must be going through,” 2DayFM radio host Mel Greig told Australia’s “A Current Affair,” her voice shaking. “And the thought that we may have played a part in that is gut-wrenching.”

She and co-host Michael Christian spoke publicly about the prank for the first time in the televised interview. Another interview on rival show “Today Tonight” also aired on Monday.

The hoax has sparked broad outrage, with the hosts receiving death threats and demands they be fired.

The radio station’s owner said Ms. Greig and Mr. Christian were receiving psychological counselling to deal with the tragedy.

A British lawmaker said he wished that much was being done for Ms. Saldanha’s grieving family.

“They are devastated by what has happened,” said Labour legislator Keith Vaz, who has visited Ms. Saldanha’s husband and two children at their home in Bristol, southwest England.

 

Both DJs apologised for the hoax and cried when asked about the moment they learned that Ms. Saldanha was dead. But neither described having reservations before the hoax tape was broadcast; they said higher-ups at the station had made the decision to air it.

— AP