The mother of Caroline Flack has rejected an apology from the Met Police over its handling of a complaint she made following her daughter’s suicide.
The Met last month said it was “sincerely sorry" for failing to keep records detailing why it pressed for Love Island host Caroline to be charged with assaulting her boyfriend.
Caroline, 40, took her own life in 2020, when she was facing a court appearance on charges of assaulting her partner Lewis Burton.
The Met had pressed for her to face a charge of assault by beating, despite the Crown Prosecution Service recommending she receive only a caution.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire, Christine Flack said she believes her daughter would still be alive if the caution had remained.
She said: “It just seems wrong. They haven’t said why there were no notes taken, why nothing was recorded. I don’t know whether they’re covering something."
Asked if she thought her daughter would still be alive if the caution had remained and Caroline had not been charged, Christine told Newsnight: “I do, I really do."
“Once all the pictures came out in the newspapers and things were written about her on social media - they just picked up the bad," she said. "There was a lot of good, but Caroline wasn’t reading the good - she was only reading the bad."
She added: “She lost her job straight away, without even being found guilty or going to court. She had another series axed."
A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Ms Flack’s family for their loss and we are sorry for the impact this has had on them.
“When a person is arrested they can be held in custody for a period of up to 24 hours
to allow officers time to gather evidence and investigate the alleged offence.
“A review by the Independent Office for Police Conduct did not identify any misconduct in relation to the handling of Ms Flack’s arrest, however, it concluded that an officer involved in the investigation should receive reflective practice."
After her daughter’s death, Mrs Flack launched a formal complaint against the Met, claiming that Detective Lauren Bateman had decided to appeal the CPS decision without reviewing evidence or discussing the case with alleged victim Mr Burton.
After the Met concluded it had done no wrong, Mrs Flack complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which has now reported, saying the Met probe into Mrs Flack’s complaint “was not reasonable and proportionate".
That led Chief Supt Andy Carter to write to Mrs Flack, apologising and outlining measures to improve how officers appealed CPS decisions.
