Caroline Flack’s mother, Christine, has spoken out about the final, harrowing weeks of her daughter’s life and how critical errors by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) may have cost the Love Island star her future.
The beloved TV presenter, who died by suicide at 40 in February 2020, was awaiting trial on an assault charge involving her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. In a poignant new Disney+ documentary, Christine details her battle to uncover what went wrong and why she believes Caroline was driven to the brink.
Christine revealed she still struggles to understand how a detective inspector overruled the CPS’s original decision to issue a caution. “It would have changed everything,” she said. “Because the prosecution went ahead, she lost her home, her job it completely turned her world upside down.”
Caroline left a heartbreaking handwritten note: “Please let this court case be dropped, and myself and Lewis find harmony.” Christine believes a combination of poor decisions, relentless online abuse, and tabloid pressure left her daughter feeling trapped. “Because of a police error, my daughter’s died,” she says bluntly.
Former CPS chief Nazir Afzal, who examined the case, agrees that the prosecution made no sense. “There was no history of coercion or abuse, and Mr Burton never wanted this case. At most, a caution should have been issued,” he told Christine. “Caroline would still be with us if those decisions hadn’t been made during that critical period.”
Former Met detective Jess McDonald says the case was riddled with errors. “So much of this screams mishandling,” she explains, citing an email where an inspector rejected a caution because there was “no clear admission of guilt” — even though Caroline had confessed 12 times in a signed statement. Her lawyer, Paul Morris, insists the prosecution pressed on merely to “save face.”
By late December 2019, Caroline’s mental health had sharply deteriorated. Her team arranged a psychiatric assessment, and a medical report was sent to the CPS declaring her unfit for trial. “It was ignored,” says her agent, Louisa Booth.
By February, Caroline’s despair had deepened. She texted a friend: “I won’t get a fair trial. I don’t think I can cope with the shame.” When she learned the case would go ahead, she wrote: “My life is over.” Hours later, she tragically took her own life, reportedly after consuming pills and alcohol from her minibar.
Christine is determined that her daughter’s story will be heard. “They won’t admit they were wrong — but they need to. Caroline deserved better,” she says.
While both the CPS and Metropolitan Police deny any wrongdoing, the Met later apologised for poor record-keeping. An official review concluded there was “no misconduct,” but Christine continues her fight for accountability.