Police watchdog tells Met to revisit complaint by Caroline Flack’s mother
The police watchdog told the Metropolitan Police to revisit Caroline Flack’s mother’s complaint that her daughter’s fame impacted police behaviour two years after the Love Island host’s death.
A spokesman for the Met told the BBC that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has instructed the police to reinvestigate an aspect of the old complaint.
Flack committed suicide back in February 2020, with a coroner ruling that she had taken her own life after learning that prosecutors were going to move forward with an assault charge involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. She also feared publicity a trial would involve, following weeks of media attention after the initial news broke.
In an interview with the BBC, her mother Christine said she wanted to know why Flack was charged with the assault, when she was initially given a caution.
“I just want those answers to make me feel better and to make me know that I’ve done the right thing by Caroline,” she told the BBC.
Last year, the Met said it was “satisfied” the service provided by the officer who made the decision was “acceptable”, and said no further action was needed.
However, Christine felt justice had not been served and asked the police watchdog to review.
Since then, IOPC found one element of the complaint was not “fully addressed”, and has directed the Met to inquire further.
A spokesperson for the Met Police told the BBC: “Following a review, the IOPC agreed with the MPS that service was acceptable in relation to seven areas of the complaints relating to the response and handling of the incident by the MPS.”
“The IOPC has directed the MPS to reinvestigate one element of the complaints. This relates to the process involved in appealing the CPS decision to caution Ms Flack. We will re-examine this element of the investigative process. Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Caroline’s family.”
Flack’s death sparked a public outcry against the treatment of people in the public eye, and led to a campaign for “Caroline’s Law”, which would make it a criminal offence, not dissimilar to Corporate Manslaughter, for the media to knowingly and relentlessly bully a person, whether they are in the public eye or not, up to the point that they take their own life.