Caroline Flack’s mother Christine told detective Lauren Bateman that her daughter “killed herself because you put an appeal through”.
The 40-year-old presenter was found dead at her home in North London on February 15th, just two months after she was arrested for assault following a row with her boyfriend Lewis Burton.
The inquest into her death continued at Poplar Coroner’s Court in east London today, where Christine slammed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for pursuing the “show trial” despite how vulnerable her daughter was.
The initial decision by prosecutors was to issue the star with a caution rather than charging her, before BIÂ Bateman applied for a formal charge.
Christine told the detective: “If it had been… an ordinary person, you wouldn’t have prosecuted.”
Christine fought back tears as she told the court: “I feel even more upset now than I did at the start,” adding: “Do you think after that night, my daughter was in any fit state to be questioned?”
“I see domestic abuse and I just think you should be disgusted with yourself. There is nothing we can do to bring Caroline back. I hope in hindsight you do regret this.”
“This girl killed herself because you put an appeal through,” she added.
CPS prosecutor Alison Wright told the court that she did not believe charging Caroline was in the public interest, stating the officers were following at domestic abuse guidelines when they decided to charge – “She has repeatedly admitted she assaulted him.”
“I do not believe that the case is in the public interest to prosecute as the injured party does not support the allegation, there is no domestic violence history, the suspect is 40 with no previous convictions,” she continued.
“There is nothing so serious about this incident which means the guidelines (to issue a caution) need to be diverted from.”
DI Bateman, who was the most senior detective on the night of the arrest, told the coroner that Caroline admitted to “whacking” Lewis at the scene.
Caroline’s phone was seized as there was a “significant amount” of blood on it and a crack on one of corners – which suggested it could have been used in the attack.
The detective claimed that Caroline admitted on the night: “I used the phone. I had his phone in one hand, and my phone in the other.”
“I whacked him round the head – there’s no excuse for it, I was upset.”
The police report stated that she also made claims such as “I hit him. He was cheating on me” in the presence of police officers, but during the official police interview there was no clear admission of guilt from the star.
During the police interview, Caroline said that the incident felt “blurry” – and that she simply “tapped” Lewis to wake him up.
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