Caroline Flack: Met Police to review decision to charge late TV presenter for assaulting her boyfriend

The Met Police has said that it will review the decision to charge the late TV presenter Caroline Flack with assault.

Flack was facing prosecution after allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton in December 2019. She took her own life in February 2020, about a month before she was due to go on trial.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had initially recommended that Ms Flack only be given a caution for the incident. However, this was upgraded to a charge of assault by beating after an appeal by the Met.

The force has now said that it is making “further enquiries” after potential new witness evidence came to light relating to the decision to appeal the initial caution decision. A statement from the Met said: “On Thursday, March 7, we referred a complaint from Caroline Flack’s family to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The IOPC decided the majority of the matters had previously been dealt with and no further action was required.

“The IOPC returned one aspect of the complaint back to the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) to consider further. This relates to the actions of officers in appealing an initial decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge Ms Flack, and because new witness evidence may be available. DPS officers are now making further enquiries in relation to this.”

A spokesperson for the IOPC said: “On the basis there may be new witness evidence available, we returned one aspect of the complaint back to the Met to investigate. This relates to the actions of officers in appealing an initial decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to charge Ms Flack. The CPS subsequently reconsidered its advice and authorised a criminal charge.”

Caroline’s mother, Christine Flack, spoke about the new development to The Mirror, saying: “We won’t stop until we get the truth. Something very unusual happened to Carrie at the police station that night, but no one kept a proper record explaining why. I have now made a complaint to compel the officer to give the ­statement we think he should have given four years ago. As a family, we have been left with important unanswered questions.”

It is not the first time the case involving Ms Flack has come under the microscope after the Directorate of Professional Standards found that there was no misconduct on the part of the Met in the decision to pursue a charge. Ms Flack’s family escalated their concerns to the IOPC, which said it “did not identify any misconduct” by the force but urged the Met to apologise to the family for not recording a reason for appeal. Christine rejected the apology at the time.

The newest development comes after Ms Falck’s former Xtra Factor co-host Olly Murs was announced as the headliner of the third annual Flackstock - a festival held in her honour to raise money for charity. Other performers will include All Saints singer Shaznay Lewis, singer Tom Walker and ‘The One and Only’ hitmaker Chesney Hawkes. Money raised from the event, due to take place on July 22, will be split equally between charities Choose Love, Mind, Samaritans and Charlie Waller Trust.