The nurse who was duped by a prank call from two Australian radio DJs to the hospital treating the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge left three suicide notes, an inquest has heard.
Jacintha Saldanha (46), a mother-of-two from Bristol, was found hanging in her nurses’ quarters by a colleague and a security guard last Friday. There were also marks on her wrist.
Two notes were found in her room and another among her possessions, London’s Westminster Coroner’s Court was told.
Detective Chief Inspector James Harman said: “On Friday 7 December 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.”
Detectives are also looking into telephone calls and emails to see if they throw any light on the death, Mr Harman said.
He told coroner Fiona Wilcox that Scotland Yard detectives would be in contact with their colleagues in Australia to interview witnesses to “put the best evidence before you” about the circumstances of the death.
He said: “I can expect in the very near future to be in contact with colleagues in New South Wales.”
A mass is due to be held for Ms Saldanha at London’s Westminster Cathedral tomorrow.
The mass will be offered “for the repose of the soul of Jacintha and her grieving family”, a spokesman for Westminster Cathedral said.
“We would hope to hold a more formal memorial after the inquest has concluded.”
The body of Indian-born Ms Saldanha was identified by her accountant husband Benedict Barboza, the court heard.
None of Ms Saldanha’s relatives were at the five-minute hearing but they were not forgotten by the coroner.
As she set a provisional date of March 26 for the next hearing, Dr Wilcox told family representatives in the court: “I would like the police to pass on my sympathies to her family and everybody who has been touched by this tragic death.”
Ms Saldanha was fooled by the two DJs into believing they were the Queen and the Prince of Wales during the prank call to the King Edward VII’s Hospital in London.
She transferred the call from the Sydney-based station 2Day FM to a colleague, who described in detail the condition of Kate, who was being treated for severe pregnancy sickness.
Labour MP Keith Vaz, who is campaigning on behalf of the family, has written a letter to Rhys Holleran, the chief executive of Australian radio company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), calling for the full facts.
Mr Vaz, who arrived after the hearing, said outside court: “I have not received a response so I think we will need him to respond.
“If you write a letter and you have questions, you really want answers, and that is all the family has wanted - the full facts - as you would want in a circumstance like this.”
The DJs behind the hoax call - Mel Greig and Michael Christian - have given an emotional account of their reaction to Ms Saldanha’s death.
Interviewed on Australian TV networks, the presenters said their prank call to the hospital prompted “a tragic turn of events no one could have predicted or expected”.
SCA, the parent company of 2Day FM, has ended Greig and Christian’s Hot 30 show and suspended prank calls across the company.
Staff at SCA have been forced to move into safe house accommodation and managers have recruited 24-hour bodyguards for their protection, according to reports.
Australian news website news.co.au said police have launched an investigation due to staff receiving death threats, with one letter specifically targeting Christian.
The letter reportedly said there are “bullets out there with your (Christian’s) name on” and contained further threats involving a shotgun.
Ms Saldanha’s body was released after the hearing.
A Westminster City Council spokesman said: “The body was released to the undertakers on behalf of the family at approximately 11am.”
Mr Vaz later released a copy of a letter he had written to John Lofthouse, chief executive of King Edward VII’s Hospital.
It contained a reference to comments made by David Cameron that “having the full facts of the case” allows people to come to terms with what has happened.
Mr Vaz wrote: “I have dealt with similar cases in the past and I would agree with the Prime Minister that the family need to get the full facts, from the time she took the call from 2Day FM to the time she was found in her accommodation.”
The letter said Ms Saldanha’s family would take up the hospital’s offer of bereavement counselling and that they had also given the institution a list of questions they wanted answered.
PA