You had it in for Caroline just because she was so famous
Mother’s blast at police as she says tragic star couldn’t face ‘living nightmare’ of a trial
CAROLINE Flack was driven to suicide by police and prosecutors who pursued her because of her fame, her grieving mother said yesterday.
She said the former Strictly champion could not face the ‘living nightmare’ of being branded an abuser over an allegation she had assaulted her boyfriend.
Christine Flack, 70, lambasted police and prosecutors and said the Love Island host would still be alive if the assault charge against her had been dropped.
Fighting back tears, she told a Scotland Yard detective: ‘ You should be disgusted with yourself... This didn’t need to happen.’
And she rounded on a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, saying: ‘You had it in for Caroline.’ Mrs Flack broke down as a coroner ruled her daughter hanged herself as she feared the glare of publicity surrounding her alleged assault on boyfriend Lewis Burton.
Coroner Mary Hassell said her ‘charmed life’ fell apart as she struggled with her fame and mental torment. Miss Flack, 40, was found dead at home in Stoke Newington, northeast London, in February, a day after
‘Should be disgusted with yourself’
learning her trial was to go ahead.
She had admitted lashing out at her boyfriend, 27, over suspicions he cheated on her, but insisted she never meant to hurt him. Mr Burton called 999 after suffering an apparently minor cut to his head but later asked for the charge against her to be dropped.
Police were called to the couple’s flat in December and found Miss Flack naked and covered in her own blood after she cut her wrist on broken glass. The inquest heard she had threatened to kill herself, and cut herself so deeply on a smashed glass candle holder that she needed urgent surgery. A psychiatrist warned she was showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and she was given sleeping pills.
She told officers: ‘I hit him [Mr Burton], he was cheating on me. I whacked him round the head... There is no excuse for it, I was just upset. I admit I did it.’ Miss Flack said she had hit Mr Burton with a phone while he was asleep after reading his texts, and described it as a ‘wake-up flick’.
Prosecutors initially said she should receive a police caution instead of being charged, but changed their minds after police demanded a review. Detectives accused prosecutors of ‘bias’ and said the lawyers wanted to drop the case because Miss Flack was a celebrity, the inquest heard. She was charged with assault then attempted to take a drug overdose the day before she was due in court for the first time. Friends said she attempted further overdoses before her eventual suicide.
At the inquest at Poplar Coroner’s Court, her mother confronted the officer who asked for the CPS review. She was allowed to cross- examine Detective Inspector Lauren Bateman, and told her: ‘You should be disgusted with yourself. There’s nothing we can do to bring Caroline back. This didn’t need to happen. That girl killed herself because you put an appeal through.’
Det Insp Bateman denied she had pressed for a criminal charge because of Miss Flack’s celebrity status. She was not involved in the investigation but asked for the appeal because she was the senior officer on duty. She told the inquest: ‘I was not biased. I would have treated anyone exactly the same.’ Mrs Flack said her daughter was unfairly painted as an ‘abuser’, despite no previous history of violence.
After listening to the evidence of Det Insp Bateman and CPS deputy chief prosecutor Lisa Ramsarran, she said: ‘I feel even more that you had it in for Caroline.’ Mrs Flack said neither police nor prosecutors had considered her daughter’s mental torment.
Miss Ramsarran said the CPS had stuck to guidelines on domestic abuse cases. Both the CPS and Metropolitan Police denied Miss Flack was treated differently because of her fame.
The star hanged herself at her home. She left a note saying: ‘Please let this case be dropped and myself and Lewis find harmony.’
The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide and said Miss Flack could not cope with the glare of publicity surrounding her upcoming trial.
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