Caroline Flack’s mother sparks reinvestigation of police complaint

A watchdog has instructed the Metropolitan Police to reinvestigate Caroline Flack’s mother’s complaint that her daughter was treated differently by police due to her fame.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police (MPS) told the BBC that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had instructed the MPS to reinvestigate the aspect of an old complaint.

The Love Island presenter took her own life at the age of 40 in February 2020.

A coroner ruled she took her own life after learning prosecutors were going to press ahead with an assault charge over an incident with boyfriend Lewis Burton.

Her mother, Christine Flack, told the BBC: “I just want those answers to make me feel better and to make me know that I’ve done the right thing by Caroline.”

The MPS spokesperson said: “Following a review, the IOPC agreed with the MPS that service was acceptable in relation to seven areas of the complaints relating to the response and handling of the incident by the MPS.

“The IOPC has directed the MPS to reinvestigate one element of the complaints. This relates to the process involved in appealing the CPS decision to caution Ms Flack. We will re-examine this element of the investigative process. Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Caroline’s family.”