A review into the Metropolitan Police's handling of allegations that Caroline Flack assaulted Lewis Burton with a lamp in December 2019 was closed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct in January. The Crown Prosecution Service initially chose not to charge, but Met officers appealed and the decision was overturned. Caroline Flack died by suicide several weeks before she was due to stand trial. Her mother complained that celebrity status influenced charging. The IOPC found most allegations required no further action because they had already been investigated, directed a probe into the officers who lodged the CPS appeal, and found no new evidence.
A probe into the Metropolitan Police's handling of allegations against presenter Caroline Flack before her tragic death has been quietly closed by the police watchdog. The Love Island host was accused of assaulting her then-boyfriend, Lewis Burton, with a lamp at her flat in Islington, north London, in December 2019. The Crown Prosecution Service had initially chosen not to charge the 40-year-old star, but this was appealed by officers at the Met, and the decision was overturned.
Ms Flack took her own life several weeks before she was due to stand trial over the incident. Following her death, her mother complained about the force's handling of the investigation, claiming her daughter's celebrity status had influenced the decision to charge her and labelling the court proceedings a show trial. At an early court hearing, it emerged Mr Burton did not support the prosecution, and the pair remained a couple.
A spokesperson said the complaint contained a a number of allegations about the force's investigation into the alleged assault, but they found the majority required no further action because they had already been investigated by the Met and the findings reviewed by the IOPC. However, they did direct the force to investigate the actions of the officers who appealed the initial decision by the CPS not to charge Ms Flack. It found no new evidence that would alter any previous outcomes.
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