Caroline Flack’s charge for assault being reinvestigated due to a new enquiry

Caroline Flack was arrested back in 2019 for assault by beating after police were called to her London home due to a disturbance. Reports say that she had assaulted her boyfriend, Lewis Burton.

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At the time, the situation was widely mediatised. Two months after the initial arrest, Caroline Flack was found dead in her home after it had been decided that she would be charged with assault, the initial ruling was no charge.

Caroline Flack’s mother, Christine, claimed that her case had been mishandled and she would do anything to uncover the truth of what happened.

Over four years later, the Met Police are launching ‘further enquiries’ due to ‘new witness evidence’. Here’s everything you need to know.

The Met Police is making ‘further enquiries’

As reported by The Guardian, the Met Police is making ‘further enquiries’ in Caroline Flack’s case as ‘new witness evidence may be available’. The Met Police are investigating new evidence concerning the actions officers took in appealing against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decision to not charge Caroline Flack with assault.

The Met Police said, as per TheGuardian:

This relates to the actions of officers in appealing an initial decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge Flack, and because new witness evidence may be available. DPS officers are now making further enquiries in relation to this.

A spokesperson for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), added that they have ‘returned to one aspect’ of the complaint made by Flack’s family, meaning the Met Police will investigate.

Caroline Flack’s mother, Christine said:

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.

This isn’t the first investigation into the handling of Flack’s case

According to The Guardian, this new enquiry isn’t the first time Caroline Flack’s case has been investigated. However, the Met’s directorate of professional standards (DPS) had not found any evidence of misconduct. As a result, Flack’s family escalated the complaint to the IOPC.

Despite finding no evidence, the IOPC requested the Met Police apologise to Flack’s family for not keeping records of its reasoning to appeal against CPS’s original decision to not charge Caroline.

At the time, Christine Flack did not accept the Met Police’s apology. Christine had told BBC Newsnight:

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.

A timeline of events

As per Metro, Police were called to Caroline Flack’s home on December 12, 2019, following a ‘domestic disturbance’. Flack had been accused of assaulting her boyfriend at the time, Lewis Burton.

At the time, Caroline Flack’s rep released a statement:

We confirm that Police attended Caroline’s home following a private domestic incident. She is co-operating with the appropriate people to resolve matters. We will not be making any further comment for legal reasons.

It was later confirmed that Burton had been ‘treated for injuries’ by the ambulance. Flack was then arrested and charged with ‘assault by beating’ on December 13, 2019.

Eventually, the CPS recommended that Flack receive a caution for the incident, but it was later overturned and Flack was charged. Caroline Flack was then found dead in February 2020 aged 40. As per The Guardian, the coroner ruled that Flack had killed herself after learning that the assault charges were going through.