Jacintha Saldanha -- the London nurse who killed herself after answering a prank call from two Aussie DJs -- reportedly had a HISTORY of failed suicide attempts.
Saldanha tried to take her own life TWICE in the last year alone, according to The Daily Mail ... first by ODing on pills last December, then again nine days later by attempting to jump off a building.
According to the report, Saldanha spent several days in an intensive care unit to recover, underwent psychiatric treatment and got scripts for a slew of antidepressants.
It changes the complexion of the now-infamous DJ prank involving a pregnant and hospitalized Kate Middleton. Being the straw that broke the camel's back is way different than what everyone first thought after the nurse hanged herself.
Police in London say prosecutors are trying to decide whether or not to press charges against the Australian radio DJs that were behind a royal hoax that led to a nurse committing suicide.
Jacintha Saldanha killed herself three days after a prank phone call done by Australian DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian was broadcast. The two radio hosts impersonated Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles in order to get information about the medical condition of Kate Middleton. Saldanha was the nurse who put the call through, and it was a second nurse who gave them information.
Saldanha was found dead on December 7.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case to see if charges will be brought.
Greig and Christian are no longer on the air and their show has been canceled.
The nurse in the Kate Middleton hoax may have hanged herself in part because the hospital came down on her hard ... this according to a new report.
The Daily Mail claims to have a source connected to the nurse's family, who says in one of the suicide notes the woman, Jacintha Saldanha, is critical of the hospital for the treatment she received. The story does not flesh out whether the treatment is connected to the hoax, but it appears to be the case, given one of the other suicide notes which reportedly describes how she tried to cope with the fallout due to the prank call.
So the question ... did hospital management come down on the nurse hard? A hospital spokesperson claims hospital management was supportive, but they are not privy to what she wrote in the notes.
As for the third note, the report claims the nurse laid out plans for her funeral.
The nurse in the Kate Middleton prank call scandal hanged herself with a scarf ... and left multiple suicide notes ... this according to officials in the U.K..
The London coroner handling the case told the court ... the body of Jacintha Saldanha was discovered by colleagues at her hospital living quarters, hanging from a wardrobe door.
The coroner says Saldanha had also suffered "some injuries to her wrist."
Officials also say the nurse left behind 3 notes ... two discovered near her body ... and one near her belongings. The contents of the notes have not been revealed to the media.
Saldanha was humiliated on a global scale in a radio prank carried out by 2 Australian DJs ... who pretended to be the Queen of England. Saldanha bought their act and connected them to a nurse who was treating Kate Middleton.
The DJs have since been suspended and the station has canceled the radio show.
The Australian radio station responsible for the prank phone call that led to British nurse Jacintha Saldanha's suicide ... is planning to give her family about half a million bucks.
The corporation that owns 2DayFM announced it will donate all the station's advertising profits for the rest of the year to a fund set up to support Saldanha's 2 teenage children and husband.
The company estimates the total donation will be around 320,000 British pounds ... or roughly $500,000.
2DayFM's generous donation comes the day after it pulled the plug on the show that placed the prank call to Kate Middleton's hospital room ... with one of its DJs pretending to be Queen Elizabeth.
Saldanha transferred the call to Kate's room, and was found dead near the hospital a few days later.
There's some serious hypocrisy at the Australian radio station that pulled the plug on the Kate Middleton pranksters -- because the station has a history of setting up dangerous stunts ... some purposely designed to cause panic and mayhem.
2DayFM's "Kyle and Jackie O" show aired a segment called "Desperate Acts" back in 2009 ... where a listener was given $1,000 to call her sister and convince her their mother was injured, bleeding, and in need of medical attention.
It worked ... the sister called 911 and sent paramedics speeding to the mother, who was totally fine.
That hoax prompted a police investigation.
Later in 2009 ... Kyle and Jackie O hooked up a teenager to a lie detector while her mother grilled her about her sex life. The stunt blew up in their faces when the girl suddenly revealed she had been raped when she was 12.
That segment led to another police investigation, and got the DJs a week-long suspension.
Additionally, 2DayFM has reportedly been on probation multiple times for violating Australia's broadcast code.
Despite getting repeatedly slapped on the wrist for their stunts ... 2DayFM honchos still signed off on Michael Christian and Mel Greig pulling the Kate prank.
2DayFM's response to the nurse's death has been that "no one could have predicted" the tragedy -- arguably true -- but they've also broadcast stunts where tragedy is not only foreseeable, but desired.
The company that owns the radio station responsible for the Kate Middleton radio prank says it has "terminated" the show ... and will implement "a company-wide suspension of 'prank' calls."
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) issued the statement this morning saying it still feels "deep regret" for the death of hospital nurse Jacintha Saldanha following the prank ... and "take the events of the last few days very seriously."
SCA says it has taken the following action:
- The suspension of all advertising on 2DayFM until further notice; - The termination of 2DayFM’s Hot 30 show; - A Company-wide suspension of “prank” calls - A comprehensive review of relevant company policies and processes
SCA says it has tried to reach out to the hospital, but had "no success."
SCA doesn't believe it broke the law by making the calls ... but says it will cooperate with any police investigation.
SCA Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran added, "First and foremost we would like to express our deep and sincere condolences to the family of Jacintha Saldanha for their loss. We are very sorry for what has happened.”
He says SCA is also "providing support to our people who are deeply saddened by this tragic and unforseen event.”
As we previously reported ... before they were suspended, the DJs were actually BRAGGING about the call -- in which they impersonated members of the royal family to get information about Kate's medical condition.
Michael Christian and Mel Greig -- the two Australian radio DJs behind the Kate Middleton hospital prank call that led to the suicide of a nurse -- say they are "incredibly sorry" for what transpired ... as they speak out for the first time.
The pair sat down with "A Current Affair" in Australia and described how they found out that Jacintha Saldanha had taken her life. Michael said they got the news at the same time and Mel called it "the worst phone call I've ever had in my life."
The DJs have been off the air since the incident, which they say has weighed on them ever since. Mel explained, "There’s not a minute that goes by that we don’t think about the family and what they must be going through and the thought we might have played a part in that is discouraging ... I wanted to just to reach out to them and give them a hug and say sorry, I actually do feel sorry, I really do."
Mel's attitude toward the prank was different before Saldanha took her life ... as TMZ first reported, she posted a photo on Facebook just hours before, joking about how impersonating the Queen should help her score free drinks.
The Australian DJ who pretended to be Queen Elizabeth II in a prank phone call ... BRAGGED about her accomplishment on Facebook ... right before the nurse who answered the call committed suicide.
TMZ obtained a screenshot of Mel Greig's Fbook page taken Friday evening in Australia ... a.k.a. BEFORE news broke that Jacintha Saldanha -- the nurse duped by Greig and her co-host -- had been found dead in London.
The post reads ... "Why is it that I can impersonate the queen to get private royal information but no one believes I'm the queen for a free champagne whilst out?"
Greig attached a pic to the post -- of herself and another chick, smiling and hanging out at a bar.
We reached out to Mel's rep for comment ... who said (again), "No one could have ever predicted the tragic sequence of events that followed the prank call."
As TMZ previously reported ... Greig and her co-host Michael Christian shut down their Facebook and Twitter pages immediately after the nurse's death -- and suspended their gig at the station.
Lexus Australia has axed all of their advertising from 2DAYFM ... the radio station that allowed two DJs to prank call Kate Middleton's hospital ... TMZ has learned.
TMZ spoke to a rep for Lexus AU ... who tells us the company has officially pulled the plug on their media campaign due to "the current situation" -- specifically the suspected suicide of the nurse who answered the call.
We're told this isn't the first time Lexus AU has pulled ads from 2DAYFM. The car company pulled ads from the station last year as well following an incident with a different announcer.
This recent ad campaign (which began November 1) was the company's first with the station since then.
Finally putting a face to name, the first photo of the nurse from Kate Middleton's hospital who committed suicide hours after two Australian DJ's pranked her has just been released.
Scotland Yard sent out the haunting snap-shot of Jacintha Saldanha -- the nurse on-call at King Edward VII Hospital in London -- who was duped by two radio DJs pretending to be the Queen of England and Prince Charles.
According to Scotland Yard, the 46-year-old Saldanha was pronounced dead on scene Friday and her death is currently listed as "unexplained." An autopsy will be held next week.
Saldanha's family issued a statement. saying, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved Jacintha. We would ask that the media respect out privacy at this difficult time."
The Australian radio station behind the phony phone call also issued a statement Saturday, stating it did nothing wrong and there was no way to have foreseen the tragic outcome.
As TMZ previously reported, the two DJ's behind the phone call have since suspended themselves from the airwaves.
The two Australian DJs behind the Kate Middleton hospital prank that may have led to the suicide of a nurse have decided to REMOVE themselves from the airwaves.
Southern Cross Austereo, the company that owns the station, has released a statement ... saying, "SCA and 2Day FM are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII’s Hospital."
SCA says the CEO has spoken with both of the DJs ... who are both "deeply shocked" over the tragedy.
The company adds, "SCA and the hosts have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy."
Interesting that SCA did NOT pull the DJs off the air immediately following the prank ... but instead waited until the backlash after Saldanha's suicide.
The two Australian DJs at the center of the Kate Middleton hospital prank have gone RADIO SILENT since news broke that the nurse at the hospital committed suicide ... TMZ has learned.
The DJs are under serious fire after pulling off a stunt where they pretended to be the Queen of England (fake voice and all) and duped nurse Jacintha Saldanha into connecting them to the people treating Middleton, who revealed details about Kate's condition.
Saldanha's body was discovered early this morning ... and cops believe it's an obvious suicide.
TMZ called the Australian radio station where the DJs work ... and were told by the executive producer that the DJs will NOT be taking any calls, period.
The E.P. explained ... the DJs have been "ordered" not to speak to the media. It's unclear who issued the order.
The producer added, "I advise you to stop trying to call them."
8:30 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us ... cops are NOT planning on conducting a criminal investigation into the death at this point ... and believe there was no foul play.
We're told a post-mortem examination (autopsy) is currently being scheduled and is expected to be conducted in the next few days.
Meanwhile, Kate and William's rep has issued a statement on behalf of the royals saying they are "deeply saddened" by the news ... adding, "Their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time."
A nurse at the hospital where Kate Middleton was treated for morning sickness this week has been found dead ... and suicide is suspected -- after she mistakenly transferred a prank radio call to Kate's hospital room.
According to law enforcement, the woman was found dead at an address near King Edward VII hospital, where she worked, around 9:30 AM this morning.
Paramedics were dispatched to the scene but were unable to revive her. Scotland Yard is treating the death as a possible suicide.
The woman -- a nurse identified as Jacintha Saldanha -- was the victim of a prank by an Australian radio station, which called King Edward VII hospital on Wednesday pretending to be the Queen of England (with a terrible accent) and asking to speak to Kate.
The nurse immediately transferred the call to Kate's room, where another nurse then nervously explained Kate's condition over the phone. The call was broadcast all over the planet.
The radio station issued an apology just hours after the prank aired, saying, "We were very surprised that our call was put through. We thought we'd be hung up on as soon as they heard our terrible accents. We’re very sorry if we’ve caused any issues and we’re glad to hear that Kate is doing well."
