[Yudster]

I doubt the royal family would have done anything like that, but I would expect her employer would make a full formal investigation, and if there was the feeling in the hospital that she was culpable in some way, she might have been feeling terrified about what might happen there.

[slaphead1982]

The producer of their radio show who decided to run with the recording of the prank is more the blame than the presenters.

From what I can tell after listening to clip, It was not a recording but a live event.
Nobody involved would have seen this situation comming. It is un-funny prank call that has had a serious outcome. I feel sorry for all included.

[Boboff]

The call was recorded and aired after management approved it's broadcast. That is key, the station had all the facts, and still decided to air it, even with the personal information it gave, and the fact that security of Kates "information" was very lapse.

In the NHS this is an absolute no no, with patients relatives given passwords to access Nurces updates over the phone, my Wife is a nurce, and felt that this would not have happened in the NHS (not just because they never answer the * phone!)
Speculation on whether "nerves" as it was the "queen" affected the responce of the nurce, is not going to make the individual feel any better in hindsight.

The Royal Family would not have applied any pressure on the Nurse, that is a rather silly suggestion, on the Hospital Management and Royal Security Team is more logical.

If you take a potentially superior view (taking the piss out of someone is this) you are asserting your superiority in a way which may cause upset, which is bullying. I do agree it's not "standard" but I think that people should consider the consequences of their actions a bit more.

[Yudster]

Try to imagine how she must have felt, thinking that millions of people all over the world are listening to her on the phone and thinking "bloody hell, how stupid is she to be falling for this?" And then factor in the outcome - ie the fact that this "joke" "worked" - and I can understand how someone could be driven to the edge, and over it.

Of course it wasn't what the people responsible intended, but at the end of the day, they * with someone who didn't deserve to be * with in order to * with someone who (in their estimation) was fair game. That is pathetic and stupid, and on this occasion had horrendous consequences. They feel dreadful of course, but so they should. Feeling dreadful is a very appropriate response to their irresponsibility.

[chrysostom]

http://www.bryanappleyard.com/cruel-jerks/

[The Deadly]

The call was recorded and aired after management approved it's broadcast. That is key, the station had all the facts, and still decided to air it, even with the personal information it gave, and the fact that security of Kates "information" was very lapse.

In the NHS this is an absolute no no, with patients relatives given passwords to access Nurces updates over the phone, my Wife is a nurce, and felt that this would not have happened in the NHS (not just because they never answer the * phone!)
Speculation on whether "nerves" as it was the "queen" affected the responce of the nurce, is not going to make the individual feel any better in hindsight.

The Royal Family would not have applied any pressure on the Nurse, that is a rather silly suggestion, on the Hospital Management and Royal Security Team is more logical.

If you take a potentially superior view (taking the piss out of someone is this) you are asserting your superiority in a way which may cause upset, which is bullying. I do agree it's not "standard" but I think that people should consider the consequences of their actions a bit more.

The presenters didn't target anybody and didn't think they would get past the first person they spoke to at the hospital which I believe was the nurse who committed suicide. You should be sued for even hinting at this being bullying. You are completely wrong on every level. Im pretty sure you piped up about the use of the word "silly" the other day so don't use it yourself if you don't want others to use it.
The prank was never intended to work as is proven by the fact the male presenter was playing the role of the queen. They never thought for a second that they would get through and when they did they had to continue with it. The nurse in question put the presenters through to the ward that the Princess was in, she wasn't even the main subject of the prank if you believe reports.

I take it none of you laughed at Beadles about when it was on? Nobody found Noel's House party amusing when he did the Gotchas? I could post hilarious YouTube clips of great pranks that have made people laugh through the years and all of a sudden pranks are completely wrong? I really worry about some of you.

[Yudster]

I take it none of you laughed at Beadles about when it was on? Nobody found Noel's House party amusing when he did the Gotchas? I could post hilarious YouTube clips of great pranks that have made people laugh through the years and all of a sudden pranks are completely wrong? I really worry about some of you.

Not even a little bit. I hate and have always hated that kind of "humour" that is no more than pointing and laughing at someone who can't fight back. Which is, I think, the very definition of bullying.

[The Deadly]

I take it none of you laughed at Beadles about when it was on? Nobody found Noel's House party amusing when he did the Gotchas? I could post hilarious YouTube clips of great pranks that have made people laugh through the years and all of a sudden pranks are completely wrong? I really worry about some of you.

Not even a little bit. I hate and have always hated that kind of "humour" that is no more than pointing and laughing at someone who can't fight back. Which is, I think, the very definition of bullying.

I think I just lost a lot of the respect I had for you, if not all of it. What a ridiculous point of view you have.

[Yudster]

Really? Is it ridiculous to dislike a certain genre of "entertainment"? I don't like poking fun at people who are not "in on the joke". Its potentially humiliating to involve someone who hasn't asked to be involved in a scenario where they are likely to be laughed at. Schoolchildren the world over would recognise that as bullying behaviour.

I totally get that you don't agree with me Deadly, and I have no agenda to make you change your mind, I'm just not sure what it is about what I am saying that you can't get at least a certain level of a handle on.

[The Deadly]

It is not bullying! You like many people throw the bully word in when you don't agree with something or someone. I have no issue with you hating a particular type of humour I have an issue with the way you describe pranking as bullying. Nobody bullied this nurse to the point she felt she had to end her life. It was a joke that actually when thinking about it was a complete success in regards to the prank but a complete tragedy in terms of the end result.

[Yudster]

*Sigh*. An un-involved, unknowing and unsuspecting person was used as a tool to play a "joke" which was designed, if successful, to make a noise across the world. In the process, a great deal of laughs were had at this unknowing, unsuspecting person's expense, and she probably got into a serious situation at work because of it.

In a classroom, the quiet 6 year old girl has a note left on her desk apparently signed by a teacher, saying that she has to take this box to the headteachers office. The six year old girl does so because she has no reason not to, but the box - which contains a dog turd - and the note, were put on her desk by the laughing and giggling girls at the next table (non of whom is a malicious person, they are just having a giggle), and the whole class is watching as she gets herself into trouble.

Apart from the scale of the thing, what's the * DIFFERENCE?!

[Travis Bickle]

The letter from King Edward VII Hospital chairman Lord Glenarthur to Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of 2day FM's parent company Southern Cross Austereo:

'I am writing to protest in the strongest possible terms about the hoax call made from your radio station, 2Day FM, to this hospital last Tuesday.
'King Edward VII's Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call.
'Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station's management, was truly appalling.
'The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients. The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words.
'I appreciate that you cannot undo the damage which has been done but I would urge you to take steps to ensure that such an incident could never be repeated.'

[The Deadly]

*Sigh*. An un-involved, unknowing and unsuspecting person was used as a tool to play a "joke" which was designed, if successful, to make a noise across the world. In the process, a great deal of laughs were had at this unknowing, unsuspecting person's expense, and she probably got into a serious situation at work because of it.

In a classroom, the quiet 6 year old girl has a note left on her desk apparently signed by a teacher, saying that she has to take this box to the headteachers office. The six year old girl does so because she has no reason not to, but the box - which contains a dog turd - and the note, were put on her desk by the laughing and giggling girls at the next table (non of whom is a malicious person, they are just having a giggle), and the whole class is watching as she gets herself into trouble.

Apart from the scale of the thing, what's the * DIFFERENCE?!

Massive difference. The radio station going into the prank never expected to get past the first nurse. They put no serious effort into trying to make anyone look silly, the complete opposite of your story. The guy from the radio show was pretending to be the reigning Monarch. They didn't employ a professional impersonator to trick anybody and they had no idea their silly plan would work out the way it did. It was a case of two people on the radio having a laugh. Did they use the words " lets pick on a nurse and trick her"? This whole case is a matter of intent. The kids in your story intended to cause harm or embarrassment the radio show did not.

[Yudster]

*Sighs again*. I still love you Deadly.

[The Deadly]

I love you too that's why I'm highly strung on this one. Anyone else I wouldn't bother carrying this on.


In more important news Sir Patrick Moore has died. He taught me lots about space.

[Yudster]

That is a sad one - he was an immense influence on a lot of people. Ohno.

[slaphead1982]

(The woman was the Queen. The fella was Charles.)
I never saw that comming. I had to check the news because I did'nt beleive you deadly what with your set two with Yudster that's been happening for nearly two pages.
My mum made me laugh when I put the news on though. She saw Patrick Moore on the telly and thaught he may have been arrested in the Yewtree operation.

[Boboff]

I love you too that's why I'm highly strung on this one. Anyone else I wouldn't bother carrying this on.

When does highly strung become wrong then?

Oh anyway, what ever, best let this sleeping dog have a little nap!

Patrick Moore making Xylaphones neerdy since 1974..............Oh No!

[dimtimjim]

RIP GamesMaster! (which I think you'll all agree was by far his most influential work)

[Bruvva]

I love you too that's why I'm highly strung on this one. Anyone else I wouldn't bother carrying this on.

When does highly strung become wrong then?

Oh anyway, what ever, best let this sleeping dog have a little nap!

Patrick Moore making Xylaphones neerdy since 1974..............Oh No!

Xylophones.

I went to a lecture Patrick Moore did when I was back at Uni, unsurprisingly, all about stars and the moon and stuff. I enjoyed every minute.

[Boboff]

Indeed, I miss Firefox and Google Chrome, both bugger up my computer but have spollchock

[MK Chris]

Like Yudster, I wouldn't necessarily use the word bullying in this case, but it is certainly harassment. Like Boboff said, the radio station choosing to broadcast after the recording is APPALLING and really they ought to look into revoking the license for them. Deadly, I sort of enjoy debating with you, but you do need to accept there's a bit of leeway either side of whatever your opinion may be. I think if I had been in the nurse's position, I (to my knowledge) have no mental issues and would probably find it VERY hard, if not impossible, to handle because I detest being the centre of attention anyway - to be the centre of a media storm would be my worst nightmare I think, particularly - but not only - because of the fact that it's in a negative light in this case. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the nurse's mental state and how the phone call affected her AND you have a very good knowledge of mental illness in general, you CAN'T make a judgement on her previous mental state because you simply DON'T know.

RE: Patrick Moore - oh no! I saw him playing xylophone a couple of times with the Woburn Sands Band when I was learning to play the cornet.

[Nicola_Red]

I heard the recording of the interview with the Australian radio presenters that's flying around - the main thing that struck me was they kept saying "the joke was intended to be on us", implying that listeners were just being invited to laugh at their terrible accents/impressions and/or their chutzpah in calling the hospital. And I just don't feel that's true - the listeners were surely expected to laugh at the hospital for believing the presenters and putting the call through to the ward. I do have sympathy for the presenters, but at the same time the way they were trying to spin the prank seemed kind of disrespectful.

[The Deadly]

Like Yudster, I wouldn't necessarily use the word bullying in this case, but it is certainly harassment. Like Boboff said, the radio station choosing to broadcast after the recording is APPALLING and really they ought to look into revoking the license for them. Deadly, I sort of enjoy debating with you, but you do need to accept there's a bit of leeway either side of whatever your opinion may be. I think if I had been in the nurse's position, I (to my knowledge) have no mental issues and would probably find it VERY hard, if not impossible, to handle because I detest being the centre of attention anyway - to be the centre of a media storm would be my worst nightmare I think, particularly - but not only - because of the fact that it's in a negative light in this case. Unless you have intimate knowledge of the nurse's mental state and how the phone call affected her AND you have a very good knowledge of mental illness in general, you CAN'T make a judgement on her previous mental state because you simply DON'T know.

RE: Patrick Moore - oh no! I saw him playing xylophone a couple of times with the Woburn Sands Band when I was learning to play the cornet.

I take your point on board regarding accepting leeway.

Regarding the nurses mental state I don't think there is any point in discussing it further as like you say nobody knows that yet. If something comes out in the future then it would explain the extreme reaction to what happened to her.
Watching the interview with the two hosts you can clearly see that they are suffering too. They are very apologetic for what has happened and I don't think they are bad people at all, just very unfortunate. They will probably never work again in radio and will be going through massive personal anguish for a long time. I think they have been punished enough. They, like the hospital, are rightfully blaming upper management of the radio show for running the clip. The two DJ's are paid to make entertaining radio and were just doing their job in this instance. The gag could have been pulled from going out on air but wasn't and both the family of the nurse and everyone connected with that radio station will live with that forever.

[Yudster]

I'm sure the two presenters do feel dreadful, but dreadful is an entirely appropriate thing for them to be feeling. They are experiencing the consequences of what they did, which whilst not malicious, was irresponsible and thoughtless and has backfired in a way no-one would have predicted.

The Saldhana family on the other hand - well in my experience there are no words to describe what they are going through, so I won't bother. I know where my sympathy lies though.