So these retards ruined a girls life and their own careers in one fell swoop. That really sucks - prank calls are the most unfunny "prank" out there.

/I hated the Jerky Boys

Anyone beside me thinking this is a prank being played on the pranksters?

Crackers Are a Family Food: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

Agreed. Nobody who isn't already very seriously suicidal would end their life over something so trivial. Hell, I think back to the times where I was suicidal (hooray for meds!), and of all the things that could have made me snap, a prank call wasn't even on the list.

A prank that could potential made her lose her job, make her the laughing stock in front of millions and ruin her professional career? Yea, if someone is already in a high stress job and depressed that could push them over the edge.

OtherLittleGuy: Hmmmm....wondering if the radio pranksters will be indicted for manslaughter.

/not snark, srsly

I doubt it. Prank-call victims get mad, and sometimes they even get scared depending on the type or frequency of call. Everyone knows this; it's the reason people make prank calls, and why they are jerks for doing so. But nobody ever anticipates that the victim of a prank call might kill themselves, especially when you only call them once. That just isn't a part of normal human psychology, or even most abnormal human psychologies. No one would expect it; no one would even entertain the possibility. Indeed, we'd look at someone who anticipated the possibility as overthinking things.

End result: the pranksters are jerks, but I don't think it's fair to hold them liable for manslaughter. No one could have foreseen this. These guys are going to have to carry the weight of the fact that their actions led to someone's death, even though they didn't mean it, and that will prove to be punishment enough.

gilgigamesh: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.

I don't know, man. That's a stretch. Some people are one minor speeding ticket or rejected date proposal away from killing themselves.

She probably thought she was going to lose her job as soon as the attention was off her, I know a few people personally, up against a wall of debt and obligations, who'd consider suicide if they lost their job right now. That was a shiatty "prank", really just a way to get a scoop on a story, you don't fark with someone's livelihood to make a joke, imo.

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

// exit fark mode

This poor lady was just living her life, working everyday and suddenly got pushed into a world wide news story by being ridiculed by these radio idiots. Mentally stable or not, that's a lot for anyone to endure. I always thought a joke was funny if BOTH people got a laugh out of it, not just the prankster.

// ok, back to my life on fark.

When DJ's prank call Sara Palin, or some other world figure who intentionally puts themself in the spotlight, I'm fine with it. Powerful and pompous people deserve all the lampooning we can throw at them.

It's quite another thing to engage a lowly nurse in such a high profile prank. Anyone with even an ounce of empathy and compassion should realize that such a prank, if successful, would destroy her career and reputation.

I feel bad when the lives of honest, working people are shredded so the rest of us can enjoy 30 seconds of moderate amusement.

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

If you actually had a king or queen you were taught to revere from birth, you might be able to imagine the crushing, accidental betrayal she must have been feeling, regardless of if suicide played a role in her death.

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

Except this was the most prestigious hospital in the UK handling the most prestigious patient which is now not only a laughingstock but could result in real penalties and its all on her shoulders, she alone blew it. It's easy for us to laugh about but I can understand why she might feel stress, it's a mistake that could have ended her career.

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

Yes and no. If the person was already nearly-suicidal, it may have pushed them over the edge. It's still the pranksters fault for being douchenozzels to a sweet person, but the problem with pranksters is they don't tend to think about the people they might be hurting, using the "it's all in good fun" defense.

WildManBand: That's the first thing that crossed my mind when i heard this news. Too bad her family/friends didn't realize she had mental problems. The poor woman killed herself for dishonoring the royal family for fark's sake.

Unauthorised release of medical information is treated very seriously here. Sneering at the victim in this case as having mental problems is contemptible. Do you also think that those children who kill themselves as a result of bullying at school are worthless weaklings who are better dead?

In my mind the DJ's crossed the line when they attempted to induce someone to break the law by doing something they well knew to be illegal (releasing private patient information). Not only should they lose their jobs, they should be facing charges. The hospital broke the law by releasing private information, the DJ's broke the law by accessing private information.

Let's say some DJ's call some random schmuck and pretend to be his next door neighbor. They tell him they're trapped in the basement and he needs to come and break into the house to set him free. The guy does so and is shot dead by the homeowner who has no idea what is going on and believes a burglar is breaking into his house. Are the DJ's off the hook? Can they simply say "Oh it was just a PRANK! He should have confirmed who we were before he broke the law"?

Playing a joke on someone is one thing, tricking someone into breaking the law, whether that person should know better or not, is going too far, period.

I didn't see anything that said she committed suicide. What if she had a heart attack or some other fatal event because of the stress induced by the DJs actions? Does that change the analysis? Now, it wasn't some choice she made. It was an involuntary response to someone else's reprehensible actions.

lennavan: someone who kills themselves over something like this also clearly had their own major issues, this was only the tipping factor.

There may not have been major issues needing just a tip. When you see yourself being mocked on the front page of every newspaper in the world and you see Piers Morgan on CNN discussing what a gullible moron you are, the stress and embarrassment from that alone could be enough to say 'fark it'. Issues, maybe, but perhaps she was just a typical self-conscious girl. I don't know how I'd react to the whole planet laughing at me... Maybe I wouldn't care, maybe I'd retreat to a cave in the mountains till the whole thing was blown over or something.

Millennium: OtherLittleGuy: Hmmmm....wondering if the radio pranksters will be indicted for manslaughter.

/not snark, srsly

I doubt it. Prank-call victims get mad, and sometimes they even get scared depending on the type or frequency of call. Everyone knows this; it's the reason people make prank calls, and why they are jerks for doing so. But nobody ever anticipates that the victim of a prank call might kill themselves, especially when you only call them once. That just isn't a part of normal human psychology, or even most abnormal human psychologies. No one would expect it; no one would even entertain the possibility. Indeed, we'd look at someone who anticipated the possibility as overthinking things.

End result: the pranksters are jerks, but I don't think it's fair to hold them liable for manslaughter. No one could have foreseen this. These guys are going to have to carry the weight of the fact that their actions led to someone's death, even though they didn't mean it, and that will prove to be punishment enough.

I agree that they have no legal culpability for her death, assuming she took her own life, but still, putting someone at risk of losing their job is a rotten "prank", irresponsible and malicious, no matter what the original intent was. I agree with posters above who think they ought to be shamed by their public and reprimanded by their own employers and leave it at that.

So I'm clear on the rules, either (1) the DJ's were directly responsible for this death and should be considered the most heinous criminals imaginable; or (2) The DJ's are innocent choirboys unfairly associated with an affair in which they had absolutely no role. No other options, right?

The My Little Pony Killer Smartest
Funniest
2012-12-07 12:25:53 PM


AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.



Yeah, it was absolutely heinous. They made a prank call. I think the death penalty is appropriate.


/farkin idiot

gilgigamesh: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.

I don't know, man. That's a stretch. Some people are one minor speeding ticket or rejected date proposal away from killing themselves.

This. People who kill themselves are by definition unstable. Any relatively minor bit of douchebaggery might be enough to set them off.

Oh, also since I'm super drunk and no one will read this, "Jacintha Saldanha" is also an anagram for "Hadj Can Hail Satan"

I suspect a conspiracy. The name of the nurse who "committed suicide" was named Jacintha Saldanha. An anagram for that name is "Ashcan Natal Jihad". Perhaps they are trying to throw off 007 and the international media...?

/never seen a bond movie
//i'm super drunk
///OooOOooOOOOooOO

Dumbasses, she held her life in her own hands. These guys had no reason to think they would cause her death. The nurse is solely responsible for her suicide. The DJs are without blame. She should have 1) hung up, or 2) let them through and wish she hadn't, and resolve not to kill herself.

Lionel Mandrake: lennavan: BigNumber12: DontMakeMeComeBackThere: For all intense and purposes

You're joking, right?

Joking? Quite the contrary, his purposes are intense.

It's "for all intensive purposes" dumbasses.

woah... for all intents and purposes, you are both wrong...

I think everyone is approaching this suicide (assuming it is a suicide) from the wrong perspective.

In past times, a samurai who failed to protect his master would commit ritual suicide to remove the shame of his failure.

So rarely does such dedication and honour still exist in the world.

This lady should be respected for her choice not pitied.

orbister: Unauthorised release of medical information is treated very seriously here. Sneering at the victim in this case as having mental problems is contemptible. Do you also think that those children who kill themselves as a result of bullying at school are worthless weaklings who are better dead?

Did you just equate mental illness to being a "worthless weakling who would be better off dead"?

I suggest that EVERYONE who commits suicide has a mental problem. Being suicidal IS infact a mental problem in and of itself. Why are you such a dick?

orbister: The nurse who died is the one who passed the call on, not the one who answered the questions. The presenters should have considered the effects on the staff concerned if their attempt succeeded. If they did not do so they were irresponsible and stupid and if they did do so but went ahead anyway they were irresponsible and stupid.

The hell they should have. They are whacky morning DJs and shouldn't be expected to put any more consideration into the effect of their media than any other jackass who spews bias through media.

Who wants to have to worry that they're going to cause someone to kill themselves? Who thinks about that at all? When was the last time you thought "OMG i shouldn't say that because Tommy might blow his brains out..."

But by all means be outraged.

I thought it was funny. It was goofy and silly and the information wasnt exactly top secret health info.

They determined that a woman who was in the hospital publicly for morning sickness HAD IN FACT been dehydrated and nauseous and the nurses didn't think that she should be bothered while she was resting. Shocking.

It WAS personal information, but it wasn't embarrassing, hurtful, or harmful. Rap the knuckles of those who slipped up and move on. Prank calls can be very funny. Also very not funny. I thought this one was about as harmless as they come.

You know whats not funny? At all? Fake lottery tickets. I don't know what people see in giving their friends or loved ones those things.

The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.

This is not the fault of the DJ's. The joke was tame and a bit funny, not some cruel prank, and nobody could have foreseen a person killing themselves because of this. There must have been other mental issues going on with this lady for her to crack like this.

Nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room, mostly because it has become like furniture and completely unnoticed these days. You can't blame the DJ's for something that happened in Australia, when it was the rest of the world pointing its finger at the nurse. The media at large picked up this story and ran with it, instead of just ignoring it. Had that happened, only the neanderthals who listen to DJ's like this would have been aware this even happened and what do they care? I think world media has gotten too far out of control with what is and isn't reported in the news cycles. So much we don't ever hear about that is important and yet this sort of thing is everywhere.

Altitude5280: That station was already on probation. Another radio personality hooked a 12 y.o. girl to a polygraph to question her about having sex. She blurted out to her mother, who was also in the room, that she had been raped.

Interesting. I find these kinds of jokes to be not amusing at all. But some people enjoy making innocent by-standers the butts of their jokes, so they can pat themselves on the back for taking advantage of another human being for trusting them.

It's one thing to f*ck with telemarketers because they call you and won't go away when you say no, you're not interested.

I'm in the camp of 'these DJs deserve to be fired and have their broadcasting careers flushed down the toilet' at the very least because they called the hospital pretending to be worried about a sick relative. The nurse had the call transferred to her, she probably figured their identity had already been verified and as unfair as it is, she would be been fired for breaching confidentiality. Seeing these guys get publicly harassed and fired is karma at its finest.

Steely Dan not available for comment.

stonicus: I told a telemarketer to go fark off one day.
The next day she killed herself.
Am I guilty?

No.. if you phoned her house pretending to be her boss and told her she was fired and she killed herself you would be though..

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

It's a bit more then getting pranked. When working for a hospital a breach of confidentiality is worse then accidentally killing someone. A violation such as this would not only cost her job, but very well her career as well since no hospital is going to hire when they find out "breech of confidentiality" as her response for leaving her previous employee, and this joke didn't have to go global for that to happen.

This was a career ending prank she fell for.

A prank call can be funny IF it succeeding is a: not illegal and b: likely to be funny to everyone concerned after the fact.

A prank call around a sick pregnant woman in hospital isnt even slightly funny under and circumstances. There just isnt any way this could have been a legitimate thing to do for lulz. It treats everyone concerned as your personal playthings without giving a fark about their lives.

At least these particular shiatbags should be out of the media forever.

crashdavis18: it really is the height of hypocrisy to call for these djs to be fired. morning radio has been making prank calls forever, and no one cares.

Lots of people care. Lots of people think obtaining medical records under false pretenses is a serious crime that should have resulted in these farkers being charged in the UK in absentia. Lots of people think that people who fark up other people's lives without a care in the world should be dealt with harshly ALL the time.

So Just because you dont care doesnt mean noone else does.

bonobo73: What a suicide-inducing radio jockey may look like: [www.wearysloth.com image 320x240]

/too obscure?

The Fisher King is not obscure dude!

DickDarlington: I always thought a joke was funny if BOTH people got a laugh out of it, not just the prankster.

This. Anything else and you're just being a dick.

How do we know that this isn't just an elaborate prank to prank the pranksters?

/prank

Do you know what would be really funny?

Phone the DJ's, say you are from the Attorney General's office and you have received a formal request for extradition from Scotland Yard and they are to surrender their passports while the legal paperwork is done.

Then put the recording on youtube for every to laugh at while they crap their pants.

I'm sure that she's gotten more hell from the hospital than they're letting on. "Support", my ass. They probably started by reading her the riot act, then threatened to ruin her career.

Submitted with better headline: "Can't take a joke all time winner."

Crackers Are a Family Food: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

Agreed. Nobody who isn't already very seriously suicidal would end their life over something so trivial. Hell, I think back to the times where I was suicidal (hooray for meds!), and of all the things that could have made me snap, a prank call wasn't even on the list.

I could have made this comment after any number of "it was adjust a joke" comments but I'll stop at yours. Many health care professionals take great pride in their job and take it very seriously.

This nurses job was to care for her patient and PROTECT her from intrusions like this. Not only did she fail, but she failed very publicly. She committed malpractice and did so in a way that was publicized world wide.

"Though boys throw stones at frogs in sport, yet the frogs do not die in sport but in earnest."

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

I don;t think it was so much the prank itself but rather the after-effects of it on her life afterward. For all we know she could've been mocked ridiculed, laugh at at work, public etc.

Keep in mind this is England where they are already obsessed about KM. This nurse may have become an outcast and social pariah once the story broke.

Prank phone calls are the lowest form of humour, even below puns. Proof.

scottydoesntknow: Dinjiin: Except that this wasn't minor douche-baggery. The prank resulted in world-wide media attention and could have led to her job being terminated.

And if she had done what's actually required (you know, screening callers), the call never would've made it back there, confidential information never would've been leaked, and the prank would've failed miserably.

How do you screen the Queen of England? Have her confirm her birthdate? Mother's maiden name? Home address? Last four of her social?

Exactly what should she have done differently?

it really is the height of hypocrisy to call for these djs to be fired. morning radio has been making prank calls forever, and no one cares. all they did was make one more prank call, all of which have, presumably, been condoned by their employers. just last week, a couple of guys from montreal prank called the canadian prime minister.

the fact that some lady killed herself does not make the prank call any better or worse than any other prank call ever made. either fire every dj who has ever made a prank call, or put this in perspective.

on the other hand, it really would be hilarious if they were faking this suicide story to get back at the djs.

srhp29: LeroyBourne: I don't know, those brits are pretty crazy over their monarchy. If the queen and others said they were deeply disappointed with the nurse and her actions, I can see her killing herself.

Well then I would hold the qeen and others more responsible than the callers.

If it were your grandson's wife and your future great grandson/daughter that people were stalking and pretending to be you to get information, I dare say you'd want the morning DJ guys strung up by their testicles in the public square and shot in the gut, so that they can bleed out and die slow over many hours. Disappointed with the nurse? Damn right you would be. You'd probably be suing the hospital as well.

...and that's another point. I'm guessing that the Queen made her disappointment known to the hospital administration and that they likely told the poor woman that she might still be employed, but she better learn to love cleaning bedpans in the psych ward. I have little doubt that helped her mental stability if that's the case.

It would be awesome if she's pranking the DJ's.

Suicide? I thought someone in the Royal family put a hit on her and made it look like she killed herself when I first read it.

I don't know why they are giving the DJs such a hard time for this. The nurses involved should not have divulged confidential information over the phone. Queen or not, or do they not have the UK equivalent of HIPA in England?

When your job is humiliating and bullying people on the radio you have to imagine that something like this might happen one day. fark these guys. As for the call itself a) If the Queen called you I bet you'd shiat your pants too and b) people see what they're expecting so see which is why she believed it was the Queen despite the odd accents, there's science to prove it and everything.

BigNumber12: BigNumber12: what's the worse that could happen


Why do people do this?

Oh, because language is evolving. I always forget that.

And revolving at 900 miles an hour

scottydoesntknow: Dinjiin: Except that this wasn't minor douche-baggery. The prank resulted in world-wide media attention and could have led to her job being terminated.

And if she had done what's actually required (you know, screening callers), the call never would've made it back there, confidential information never would've been leaked, and the prank would've failed miserably.

It wasn't her farking job, moron.

It would be funny if she was still alive and the hospital was just trolling the DJs back.

david_gaithersburg: And we thought that the Clintons were the only royal family running around killing people having people die of apparent suicides.

Six shots to the head with a five shot revolver. It'sa suicide!

Morning zoo DJs are the lowest form of life imaginable. Exhibit A:

Electromax Smartest
Funniest
2012-12-07 12:41:07 PM


doubled99: The My Little Pony Killer Smartest
Funniest
2012-12-07 12:25:53 PM


AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.



Yeah, it was absolutely heinous. They made a prank call. I think the death penalty is appropriate.


/farkin idiot

He called the pranksters douchebags. Where'd you get the death penalty from?

And you don't find prank-calling a hospital about a patient's medical info douchbaggy?
/farkin' idiot



It's a silly exaggeration.
Kind of like blaming the DJs for her death. You may now return to your regularly scheduled stupidity.

AliceBToklasLives: So I'm clear on the rules, either (1) the DJ's were directly responsible for this death and should be considered the most heinous criminals imaginable; or (2) The DJ's are innocent choirboys unfairly associated with an affair in which they had absolutely no role. No other options, right?

I think that about sums it up.

Omen?

I don't know, those brits are pretty crazy over their monarchy. If the queen and others said they were deeply disappointed with the nurse and her actions, I can see her killing herself.

Jument: Any relatively minor bit of douchebaggery might be enough to set them off.

Except that this wasn't minor douche-baggery. The prank resulted in world-wide media attention and could have led to her job being terminated.

I would like to see these DJs lose their jobs at the least.

doubled99: The My Little Pony Killer Smartest
Funniest
2012-12-07 12:25:53 PM


AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.



Yeah, it was absolutely heinous. They made a prank call. I think the death penalty is appropriate.


/farkin idiot

He called the pranksters douchebags. Where'd you get the death penalty from?

And you don't find prank-calling a hospital about a patient's medical info douchbaggy?

/farkin' idiot

AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

Agreed. Nobody who isn't already very seriously suicidal would end their life over something so trivial. Hell, I think back to the times where I was suicidal (hooray for meds!), and of all the things that could have made me snap, a prank call wasn't even on the list.

Everyone who listens to Morning Zoo type radio should be ashamed.

What? And now someone's gone and killed herself!

david_gaithersburg: And we thought that the Clintons were the only royal family running around killing people having people die of apparent suicides.

\
O RLY?

The Duke of Edinburgh gets away with it again.

And we thought that the Clintons were the only royal family running around killing people having people die of apparent suicides.

Since news broke of Saldanha's death, the radio personalities, Michael Christian and Mel Greig of 2Day FM, have both deleted their Twitter accounts after tweeting about the success of the prank throughout the week.

Slammed much?

AdolfOliverPanties: The My Little Pony Killer: AdolfOliverPanties: If someone got pranked and killed themselves over it, that says a lot more about the person's mental stability than it does the pranksters.

That doesn't absolve the pranksters of being douchebags though.

Never heard them. Are they any worse than any of the other morning douchebags though?

Their prank directly led to somebody making the choice to end their life. If you can't figure it out from there, there's not much I can do to help you.