Caroline Flack’s devastated mother believes police error was to blame for her daughter’s death as she speaks about the tragedy in a new documentary. The Love Island host took her own life at 40-years-old in February 2020 ahead of a trial after she was charged with assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton.
Caroline left a note in her flat which read: “Please let this court case be dropped, and myself and Lewis find harmony.” A new investigation led by Christine Flack highlights what she insists are key mistakes and choices by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police which “made no sense”.
Alongside negative media coverage and online trolling, Christine says Caroline was left feeling there was “no way out”. Christine says: “They will not admit that they were wrong to push for Caroline to be prosecuted. Because of a police error, my daughter’s died.”
Speaking to the Mirror, Christine said she could not make sense of why a detective inspector overruled the CPS which initially suggested just cautioning Caroline on the night of the incident at her London home in December 2019.
She said: “It would have changed everything. Because they pursued the prosecution, she had to stand down from her jobs. She had to leave her house. It just changed her world.”
In the Disney+ documentary, Christine speaks to senior legal figures, who agree that the TV star should have only received a caution.
Former CPS chief crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal studied police documents gathered by Christine.
He tells her: “Having looked at all your evidence I can’t understand why they rushed the judgement. This was a case where there is no previous history, no coercive behaviour. Mr Burton never wanted this case and was adamant.
“This was a one off occasion where she lost her temper and did what she did, which she accepts. For all of those reasons, the very worst thing that should have happened was a caution.”
He added: “I have prosecuted thousands of these cases, none of this makes sense. Almost immediately in the cold light of day, prosecutors would have formed a view this case is going nowhere and they should have stopped the case.
“They are required to stop the case where there is insufficient evidence. I can’t think of any reason to proceed, unless they were scared of what the media were going to say about them.
“It is not about losing face, this is about justice. My take on it is Caroline would still be with us if certain decisions weren’t taken in that month or two.”
Jess McDonald, an ex-Met detective constable who had worked in a safeguarding unit dealing with domestic violence, tells Christine: “So much shouts out to me as mishandling.”
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She underlines one particular email challenging the decision to only caution Caroline, in which the detective inspector insists there is no clear admission of guilt.
Jess adds: “Caroline never denied that she hit Lewis with the phone.”
In a statement, Caroline admitted guilt 12 times. Her lawyer Paul Morris said: “This case was prosecuted because it would’ve been more difficult to stop the snowball rolling than let it continue. Saving face, I think adequately describes the stance taken.”
Caroline was not doing well mentally after she was charged in late December and her agent and legal team had her see a psychiatrist.
Agent Louisa Booth said: “We sent a psychiatric report to the CPS saying she is not fit mentally to go through this. We had professional analysis. It was ignored.”
Christine told the Mirror: “They were going to pursue the case whatever. That’s what Caroline knew in the end. There was no way out.”
It is claimed that Caroline may have taken her own life the night before she was due in court.
Prosecution lawyer Katie Weiss told the court that Lewis had been hit with a lamp and police said the scene was like “a horror movie”.
Christina says Caroline acknowledged she had hit Lewis with a phone, which he later confirmed.
However, on January 1, a story appeared with horrific snaps from the scene showing a bed, covered in blood. Christine says the blood was Caroline’s.
At the time she texted best friend Mollie Grosberg to say: “I won’t get a fair trial. I don’t think I can cope with the shame.”
When she heard the case would go ahead on February 13 she texted: “My life is over. My head is throbbing.”
Flack went into a meltdown and trashed her flat with friends rushing over to phone an ambulance.
However, the late TV presenter assured them they could go home the next morning because her sister was visiting.
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Sadly, Jody arrived to a locked door and later found out Caroline had taken her own life.
The Met apologised for not keeping a record about why it charged her with assault. An Independent Office for Police Conduct review found no misconduct.
The Met said: “We have engaged with a number of independent reviews and an inquest. While there was organisational learning for us on points of process, no misconduct has been identified.”
The CPS said: “All decisions were made on the basis of the medical opinion available. A person’s celebrity status never influences whether a case is taken forward. We are satisfied the prosecution was correctly brought.”
