SYDNEY, Australia — The Australian radio station behind a hoax phone call to the London hospital where the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated could face criminal charges for airing the conversation, legal experts said Tuesday.
Last week’s prank was widely condemned days after it aired, after the still-unexplained death of a nurse who answered the phone and helped two DJs get confidential information about the former Kate Middleton’s health. But when it comes to a potential criminal case, the question is not about the death; it’s whether a private conversation was broadcast without the permission of the participants.
Violators could be sentenced to prison, but it’s unclear who at radio station 2DayFM or its parent company, Southern Cross Austereo, made the decision to air the call. The DJs have said executives above them made the decision, but a former 2DayFM host who orchestrated many pranks for the station said DJs were always involved in such decisions while she was there.
Southern Cross Austereo has said the station had tried five times to contact the hospital, but privacy law expert Barbara McDonald said that could prove to be an inadequate defence.
“Seems to me that saying, ‘We tried to call,’ shows that they knew they should, and they’ve made a decision to go ahead knowing that they have not got permission,” said McDonald, a law professor at the University of Sydney. “I don’t know whether it makes the situation better, or worse.”
The New South Wales state Surveillance Devices Act prohibits the broadcast of recorded private conversations without participants’ permission, with violations punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 55,000 Australian dollars ($58,000).
McDonald said the Commercial Radio Code of Practice has a similar ban, but she added that even if Australia’s media watchdog found violations, the most extreme punishment — loss of license — is almost unheard of.
Australian authorities have said little about any possible investigation. State police have said only that they’ve been in contact with their London counterparts and are ready to assist them in any British investigation.
Radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian called London’s King Edward VII Hospital last week. Pretending to be Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, they asked for word on the Duchess of Cambridge, who had been suffering from severe morning sickness. Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who answered the phone, put them through to the ward, and the duo received confidential information on the duchess’ condition that was later aired.
The radio station trumpeted the prank call until Friday, when Saldanha was found dead. Police have not disclosed the cause of Saldanha’s death, but many have assumed it was related to the stress from the call. An autopsy was to be held Tuesday.
Grieg and Christian tearfully apologized for the prank in televised interviews Monday, after days of condemnation in countless Internet posts around the world.
Southern Cross Austereo also has apologized, but it has repeatedly insisted it followed the law. The company said in a statement Monday that the segment underwent an internal legal review before it was broadcast.
The company “does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code,” Austereo said, adding it would co-operate with any investigation.