Prank phone call

Sorry my post got delayed- I meant by last comment the last comment of Barrows post about lack of concern. Whenim64 do you really want to ban all prank /hoaxes? As for feeling sorry for the DJs - well I've done some pretty awful things in my life especially when I was younger and more thoughtless - it would be a sad world without some compassion for the stupid and thoughtless - it doesn't mean what they did was OK

My first thought after hearing this tragic news was that the royal family had asked for her to be dismissed. They are afterall so much better than anyone else and therefore deserve absolute privacy and first class treatment. In the past the poor woman would have been beheaded anyway but even QE can't get away with that these days.

Yes I know K and W said they supported her but that was after the event. perhaps if they had made a statement immediately after the silly prank then this poor lady might still be alive. Making the statement after the poor lady was found dead reminded me a bit of the queen looking at the flowers after Diana's death. It was clearly under duress and not something she wanted to do out of love or compassion.

Awful people.

Last comment sums up most of the media ,especially the press,really with some honourable exceptions. Still think the real issue is consent - find it hard to believe that they really tried to ring up and anyway, as said, the law requires consent not just ringing up

I'm afraid I don't feel sorry for the DJs. I heard them on the radio this morning and their statements to me did not have the ring of sincerity.

Barrow the switchboard wasn't manned 24/7, which is how it got straight through to the nurses and was answered by this nurse as she was passing. It was in the early hours. It seems a series of unfortunate circumstances has prevented the brakes being put on. If only a trained receptionist had been on duty, a suspicious nurse picked up the phone, the radio station checked for permission before transmitting, and if only people around the nurse had known how deeply it appears to have affected her. I cannot see the fun or interest in hoax-type pranks. They are humiliating and embarrassing. There are several lives badly affected as a resut of this tragedy.

The radio station has said they tried 5 times to ring to the hospital to get permission but were unable to get through. I find this hard to believe, this is a private hospital and the switchboard would be manned 24/7.

I do feel some pity for the DJs as they obviously couldn't have foreseen the outcome but if the nurse hadn't died they would be laughing and congratulating themselves on how clever they were.

As has been said previously, this is a form of bullying and the fact they broadcast the call despite not having permission shows the lack of concern for anyones feelings except their own

The radio station now says they tried very hard to contact the two nurses to get permission but couldn't - so went ahead anyway. I understand it is illegal in Australia to broadcast or publish an interview without consent.

Well - there used to be a really funny radio 4 programme which included prank phone calls - I remember a particularly funny one when someone pretended to be Brian Sewell ringing up Gateshead council to ask where Gateshead was and how to get there - humm perhaps you have to hear it. My point us that there can be very funny pranks and that the real issue is that the person at the receiving end agrees to it being made public. I agree with the comment that the people at the radio station who gave the OK to it bring broadcast are the real villains. Also I heard the woman DJ being interviewed just now and I absolutely believe that she is devastated - how could she possibly have thought it would lead to this? I once played an April Fool on my mother which involved her going upstairs - what if she'd fallen on her way down? If everyone carries on vilifying them like this then there may be another suicide. Of course it's really sad and I know we shouldn't speculate but I still can't believe that this was the sole reason for the suicide. What there should be us learning from this - training of staff, getting consent before broadcasting and as individuals if anyone we know feels under pressure then be there for them

Perhaps some of the people who perpetrate these "pranks" might realise that while most people would not be driven to suicide by something like this they could still be brought quite close and it could have quite a devastating on their lives for a long time. It just isn't funny!

An amazing organisation, the Samaritans; one that doesn't get the credit it deserves nor do the people such as yourself who work for/have worked for them.

Crimson - I think you misunderstood my Samaritan's input...the ones who call the Samaritans are usually a call for help and often are not ready or will take the final step. The ones in the dark place do not usually call for help, they have often been there in the dark place for a long time and then the "trigger" can be a sudden event, such as the "prank" in the hospital.

Whatever our understanding of suicide may be, it is a very complex situation and one we are underqualified to judge without knowing all the circumstances.

Fondsharing; I can't agree with what you've said about your work with the Samaritans. You're maybe referring to people who actually phone the Samaritans and don't really intend to take their own life. Someone that doesn't contact the Samaritans but just kills themselves have surely descended into a very dark place, maybe over a period of time but just as likely to be due to a sudden event.

I've always hated such programmes, going back to Candid Camera. I can't actually watch anything where anyone is put in a humiliating situation because I feel so badly for them. I can't even watch comedy such as Alan Partridge because it makes me feel the same way [even though it's not for real].

'Prank' is a weasel word. There is a children's TV programme called 'Prank Patrol' which I've seen parts of in waiting rooms etc. the purpose is for 12 to about 15 year olds to lure their 'best friend', with adult help, into a humiliating or frightening set-up. The victim agrees to its being shown and presumably so does their family. I don't know if any refuse. It's a thoroughly nasty programme. This programme and what the two DJs did isn't a 'joke' or a 'prank' it's a horrible deliberate assault.

The Duke and Duchess and the hospital have made it clear that none of them has expressed any anger with anyone, just sympathy and understanding for the staff taken in.

I iunderstand the bullies who perpetrated this 'prank' are distraught and in need of intensive psychological support, one is described as being emotional vulnerable before the event and her mental state is causing considerable concern. I do not often feel vindictive but in this case to see the bullies having their 'prank' bounce back and hit them as well so that they are suffering the kind of pain they so hilariously enjoyed inflicted on others, though even their pain cannot compare with that of Jacintha's and her families is almost pleasurable.

Have only just come to this thread as I have been on grandparenting duties.

I volunteered for Samaritans some years ago and in the basic training, we were always given to understand that if someone was about to commit suicide, the thoughts had been there for some time, and that someone intent on suicide only needed the "trigger" to fulfil their demise. So, without judging the lady, perhaps she had some problems way before this awful prank. That does not excuse the "trigger" in any way.

Also, how do we know for sure that the Royal Family did not insist that the staff responsible for the transfer of the hoax phone call were dismissed? Then the Hospital were obliged to dismiss the nurses? Of course, they will say that they did not have any part in her demise, but having members of my family who have worked in the Royal household in the past, nothing would surprise me as to their part in such a dismissal and subsequent compliance by the hospital.

All in all, a tragedy, but we should not look only at the side of the pranksters. Tragedies like this have many stories to tell.

Sorry about the dodgy bits on above post - I wrote it out on Word then copied and pasted it. Obviously some punctuation is incompatible,

The more I think about it, the more I am coming to the conclusion the legal team of the radio station, who OKd the broadcasting of the hoax call, should be equally vilified.

It was an act of deception and bullying involving the royal family – why didn’t the red warning lights come on? Why didn’t common sense and decency appear? At the very least, they were putting their victims’ jobs in jeopardy, though of course far worse happened. And what about the legality of broadcasting a recorded conversation without the knowledge and consent of both parties?

Now that I know the victim was of Indian origin, she probably came from a different first language, or at least a different kind of English. It is very difficult to pick different English accents when you are not English yourself. My second language is German, acquired in Vienna, but I wouldn’t be able to tell if a daft Berliner was putting on a posh Viennese accent. I’d just think it was real.

Also, her Indian cultural origins may have made it harder to cope with shame – just speculating here, but perhaps she thought there was no other honourable action but suicide.

The only good that can come out of this is that shock jocks might have to curb their nastiness.

Oh, and if the baby is a girl, perhaps Jacintha could be one of her names.

Thank you Anno. Must admit when I first heard burst into tears .

soop, you give me too much credit!
Nonu, what a horrid thing to have happened. Glad DiL is unharmed but I can imagine that she's feeling pretty distressed. Good thing they have you.

It is the children she left behind i feel most sorry for .

Have been away at Son and DIL"s all week to offer support as DIL skidded on black ice and has written car off.
She I am glad to say is okay , bit shaken up as you"d expect .

Back to them on Monday as GD"s are bit sad .

[sad smile]

anno wise, as ever.

Agreed, crimson. It is idle speculation and none of our business. It's happened and it is up to the coroner to make any kind of judgement if needs be.

I think the best memorial this lady can have is a campaign to say that 'pranks', particularly media 'pranks' that get their 'humour' from humiliating people are not funny they are quite simply acts of bullying perpetrated by bullys and anyone who finds them funny is part of the bully's gang.

The two nasty little Australian bullys who pulled this wizard weeze are off air and shaken and repentant we are told. Supposing instead of this possible suicide the jolly jape had merely resulted in the two nurses involved losing their jobs (which we know wasnt likely to happen, but suppose it had), would these jolly japesters have given a toss? Of course not, they would probably have been back on air laughing at what had happened to the two silly pommie nurses who had fallen for their cod accents, ignoring the fact that at least one of the nurses wasn't a 'pom' so wouldn't have had such a good ear for a false accent.

We have no right to make assumptions about the mental health of this poor woman or her relationship with her family. Isn't that the sort of thing that the media do and we're critiscising them for their behaviour. Or mention such things as child killings in the same thread. I'm sorry but we should feel desperately sorry for the lady and her family but leave them alone.