London: The Indian-origin nurse duped by a prank call to the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was found hanging in her work accommodation, and there are “no suspicious circumstances”, an inquest heard Thursday.
Jacintha Saldanha, 46, a mother-of-two from Bristol, was found by a colleague and a security guard Dec 7, the Daily Mail reported.
There were also marks on her wrist, the Westminster Coroner’s Court was told.
Two notes were found in the room of Saldanha, who worked at the King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, London, treating the 30-year-old Kate.
“Jacintha Saldanha was found by a colleague and a member of security staff. Sadly she was found hanging. There was also injuries to her wrist. The London Ambulance Service was called to the scene. At this time there are no suspicious circumstances,” the daily quoted Detective Chief Inspector James Harman as saying.
Saldanha was on the reception desk when she took a call from Sydney-based 2Day FM presenters Mel Greig, 30, and Michael Christian, 25, who were pretending to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
The nurse then passed them onto a second nurse in Kate’s ward, who was duped into giving out details of the duchess’s medical condition.
Saldanha’s body was identified by her 49-year-old husband Benedict Barboza, an accountant for the National Health Service (NHS).
Police are now looking at emails Saldanha had sent in the lead up to her death, the daily said.
The coroner adjourned the inquest until March 26 so that further enquiries can be carried out.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has said “many lessons” must be learned from the tragedy.
“She (Saldanha) clearly loved her job, loved her work, cared deeply about the health of her patients and what has happened is a complete tragedy. There will be many lessons that need to be learned,” Cameron said.
Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz said Saldanha’s family were demanding answers from the hospital about the circumstances that led to her death.
Vaz met hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur to demand a full inquiry.
“There are unexplained circumstances. The family want to know everything. All the facts, fully and clearly,” Vaz was quoted as saying.
“The hospital needs to be more pro-active, a full inquiry is needed and the family need to be included in that.”
“They are a lovely close-knit family, a Catholic family who will be spending their first Christmas without their mother, and for Ben, without his wife,” Vaz said.
Bosses at the Australian radio station, 2Day FM, have also been under pressure to explain why they gave the go-ahead for the prank.
The company which owns the station, Southern Cross Austereo, has cancelled its staff Christmas party and said it would donate the rest of the year’s advertising revenue — around 320,000 pounds — to a memorial fund set up in Saldanha’s name by the hospital.
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