Royal Prank

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#729044 8-Dec-2012 17:39

vexxxboy:
i was just pointing out the fact that all the police could get them for is impersonating a grandmother, not a big crime. if the nurses asked the woman if she was the queen and she said yes then they would be in trouble.

It's only illegal to impersonate a police officer, otherwise it's a civil matter.

Zeon

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#729051 8-Dec-2012 18:00

Seriously screw the royal family, surely the tabloids have enough material with celebrities.....

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networkn

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#729055 8-Dec-2012 18:09

From what I have read, no complaint was laid by the royals and they viewed it in a humorous light, something I think they have done a lot better to make themselves more accessible and so I don't seriously believe the nurse in question was in serious trouble. I do believe however, that obviously now the matter is being viewed more seriously as well it should.

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#729134 8-Dec-2012 23:50

they DJs did not directly cause any death ... but i must agree with those who believe that sometimes when you play a practical joke you can hurt things other than bones ...

the royals have got nothing to do with this prank, the prank was directed at the hospital telephonist and nurses and unfortunately it was the straw that broke the camel's back

mattwnz

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#729135 8-Dec-2012 23:53

joker97

the royals have got nothing to do with this prank, the prank was directed at the hospital telephonist and nurses and unfortunately it was the straw that broke the camel's back

But you would have thought that there would have been someone vetting calls, which apparently is the normal thing to do when the royals are staying in hotels etc. Basically the call should never have got through to the nurses treating her full stop.

cws82us

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#729148 9-Dec-2012 06:42

Alex jones makes fun of them all the time

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blair003

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#729200 9-Dec-2012 10:13

CruciasNZ:

It is a horrendous breach of privacy for someone to call up impersonating family and pulling information regarding a persons medical treatment. I hope that the staff involved in this "prank" are dealt with severely be it under UK or Aus law. I feel that whether you believe in the Monarchy or not is irrelevant to this situation. If this had happened to an average family it would still be morally and ethically wrong and should still result in conviction.

So my opinion in summary: they should not be directly convicted for the suicide, but they should most definitely be dealt with severely under the law for their actions.

Edit Reason: Really really bad paragraph structure from copy paste re-arranging!

I agree it's a breach of privacy - the breach of privacy is the nurse giving personal information to the caller. The hospital should have policies in place that require staff to take reasonable steps to verify that someone is who they say they are, and they should know whether or not that person is entitled to the information they are asking for before giving personal information.

As far as I could tell, the DJ's didn't have to circumvent any such measures so the hospital policy appears to be lacking (or the the policy is not being followed very well).

Say someone calls your bank and asks for your bank balance, and the bank person gives it. I don't know about you but if I was going to get angry at someone it would be my bank, not at the person who called up asking for information they were not entitled to.

This case is the same - the onus is on the hospital to protect the personal information. If the DJs have broken laws, it relates to impersonation/fraud.

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blair003

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#729202 9-Dec-2012 10:20

DS9: As a Brit myself I came to the conclusion that the nurse would not of expected this to be a hoax, as it would not have been done in the UK due to privacy laws in place. She would never even imagine that it was not the Queen as this hospital is used by the Royals. I feel for her family and mostly her children and I hope that in the future that even when radio host think it is a benign hoax, it can sometimes have real impacts on peoples lives.

Hmmm.. laws were put in place to protect peoples privacy (presumably because peoples privacy was being breached), so now nobody in the UK calls up asking for information they are not entitled to?

I find that to be a strange view to take, especially given the privacy laws there are probably similar to NZ/Aus.

Ordinarily it's not done for the sake of humour like in this case and its I doubt its usually "social engineering" type breaches as in this case, but I expect there are privacy breaches and attempted privacy breaches occurring routinely both here and in the UK.

gzt

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#729228 9-Dec-2012 11:54

networkn:
thebender:
DarthKermit: It's a tragedy that someone has died, but why does this royal garbage make the news in the first place?

I think that One news had 15 minutes of coverage of the impending birth of the royal sprog the other night!!! I left the room and muted the TV so I wouldn't have to hear about it.

(off topic) because this child will become head of state of NZ one day

This.

I would be very surprised if Kate's child ever becomes head of state in NZ. Even the next in line William has a good chance of NZ becoming a republic and missing out.

This death is a tragedy but we know nothing of the pressure the nurse was under and from which direction it came. For all we know the nurse's mother-in-law called up and accused her of humiliating the whole family and ruining her husbands honor for life. We will probably never know.

The nurse answered the prank call because there is no after hours receptionist. It is a private hospital in the center of London and trying to squeeze out more profit no doubt. This call could have easily been made by a Brazilian tabloid looking for a story or anyone else. It was only public in this case because it was media.

As for how the royal family responds I could not care less. On any topic like this they will be taking advice from public relations consultants about what to say, who to say it to and when to say it.

The radio station would have expected cheap laughs for profit from two DJ's trying to convince a receptionist of their supposed royal identity for 5 minutes or so and failing. I don't have any sympathy for that radio station or the decision to broadcast the call.

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#729239 9-Dec-2012 12:17

You can't jail these fellas radio folk have done worse than ringing a royal hospital ... Maybe you should retrain the entire radio world and while you're at it do the same with journalists

gzt

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#729245 9-Dec-2012 12:24

Someone would have to bring charges first. That isn't likely in this case. [Edit: my point about the radio station is they would not have expected the prank to succeed in this way. The radio station made the decision to broadcast the result and they have legal liability for the content of the broadcast obtained by deception]

robjg63

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#729258 9-Dec-2012 13:22

While the dumb Auusie DJs are getting hung up to dry over this I agree they didnt cause the death of the nurse. She obviously had other issues and was a bit unhinged.
Those DJs sounded amazed that they didnt just get hung up on immediately.
The hospital should have had protocols in place for dealing with enquiries - especially since they have some VIP patients as I understand it.

What is rich is the UK media and the nut jobs baying for the blood of those DJs.
Those would be the same people that buy NO Idea and Womans Weekly to read crappy stories about celebrities and the UK media (that supplies those stories) who have already hounded several people literally to death (Princess Dianna for one).

Did anyone see the strobing flashes of cameras when the royals left the hospital? - If William isnt trying to work out where him and his mrs can go and hide I would be much surprised.

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Loaf

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#729368 9-Dec-2012 18:41

I feel sorry for everyone.

We have two radio DJs who are doing what they were payed for-- making entertainment with banter, jokes, and pranks. This kind of humor isn't new, radio stations do stuff like this all the time.

I don't believe the DJs expected to get very far with that joke let alone incite a suicide (probably thought the phone would hang up immediately after their impersonation).

Its a tragedy for the family of the nurse, but I agree that there must have been more problems behind the scenes that we don't know of. Killing yourself? There has to be more to the story of her life or the handling of the incident.

The DJs have been brutally attacked online. That, combined with the knowledge their actions pushed someone to kill themselves, must be devastating.

Everyone is just jumping onto the anti-corporate bandwagon, complaining about the radio station and the people behind it, fueling their comments with the outrage of the suicide. Yes, the suicide is awful. But online hatred isn't going to bring anyone back or fix the situation-- if anything its hypocritical, I hear the DJs are being given psychiatric help because of how traumatizing the situation is. If one of those guys top themselves, are we going to attack the commentators on situation next? Its like some kind of crazy online mob mentality.

MikeSkyrme

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#729414 9-Dec-2012 20:58

meesham:
vexxxboy:
i was just pointing out the fact that all the police could get them for is impersonating a grandmother, not a big crime. if the nurses asked the woman if she was the queen and she said yes then they would be in trouble.

It's only illegal to impersonate a police officer, otherwise it's a civil matter.

Correct me if I wrong, but as I understand it, it is technically treason to impersonate the head of state.

As far as the recording and the 'prank' are concerned, I also believe it is illegal to record a conversation without advising the person receiving the call that they are indeed being recorded.

My personal view: This not not even a remotely funny prank. The princess had been hospitalised, and there was concern for the wellbeing of her baby, what possible good could come of a hoax call?

My last point: For those who believe there was nothing wrong with the DJ's invading the privacy of the royal family, please bear this in mind when you complain about 'big brother' monitoring your internet behaviour.....

Michael Skyrme - Instrumentation & Controls

Hobchild

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Ultimate Geek

#729417 9-Dec-2012 21:06

Sorry to sound cold but I have no sympathy for people that commit suicide, she wanted to take her own life and she succeeded. Her family and friends on the other hand I have nothing but sympathy for, they deserved better.

I also have sympathy for the DJ's, they most probably will never get over this and their careers might well be over.

Bottom line: If Jacintha Saldanha hadn't killed herself everybody would have forgotten about this within a week and the hospital would have got a well deserved wake up call.

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