POLICE IN LONDON have sent a file to prosecutors so they can decide whether any potential offences were committed by two Australian radio DJs during a hoax call to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment.
Scotland Yard said it has been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service since the death of Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse at King Edward VII Hospital, on 4 December. A file was submitted by officers on Wednesday, 19 December but police said they were not prepared to discuss the incident any further.
In England and Wales, the CPS is responsible for deciding whether charges will proceed in criminal cases, while police are responsible for investigating and collecting evidence.
Saldanha, a 46-year-old mother of two, answered the initial prank call from Mel Greig and Michael Christian. They were transferred to another nurse, who divulged information about the patient. Three days after the incident, she was found dead after an apparent suicide. Her death sparked anger across the globe, with many calls for the radio station to be held accountable.
The two DJs involved have been suspended and their show pulled. New South Wales authorities have confirmed that death threats have been made against the presenters.
The media group has also suspended all prank calls and pledged half a million Australian dollars to help the grieving family.
At the nurse’s funeral in India on Monday, her widower Benedict Barboza and the couple’s two children said British police were investigating the tragedy “and they have assured us of a full and fair investigation”.
Last week, the inquest into her death heard from detectives that they would be asking for their counterparts in Australia to help them carry out interviews.
-Additional reporting by AFP
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