Caroline Flack's mother has rejected an apology from the Metropolitan Police over how her daughter's case was handled. The Love Island presenter took her own life in February 2020 while awaiting trial for assault.
It followed an incident between Flack, 40, and her then-boyfriend, tennis player Lewis Burton, at her London flat in 2019. Police found Flack covered with blood when they arrived, and they reported that she admitted that she had struck Mr Burton, leaving him with a head wound.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) initially decided that only a caution should be issued. However, this was appealed by a senior Met officer and resulted instead in a charge of assault by beating.
A coroner later ruled the presenter killed herself because she knew she was facing prosecution and feared the publicity a trial would attract. Caroline's mother, Christine Flack, made a formal complaint over the handling of her daughter's case, prompting the force to investigate the decision to pursue charges against her.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct reviewed the decision to charge her, finding that there was no misconduct in the decision-making. Nevertheless, it did demand an apology be made for not recording its reason to appeal the original CPS decision.
Last month, the force told Christine that it was 'sincerely sorry' for failing to keep full records. Scotland Yard added that it had improved record keeping as a result of the incident.
But Christine has now rejected this apology. Speaking to BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire, she said she does not accept that apology, adding: "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."
When asked if she thought her daughter would still be alive if Caroline had not been charged, Christine said: "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 lost her job straight away, without even being found guilty or going to court. She had another series axed."
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Flack had allegedly assaulted her boyfriend with a phone in her home on December 12, 2019. He called emergency services, but later withdrew his complaint.
Caroline stood down from hosting Love Island days later, although the show's producers insisted the door remained open for her return. On December 23, 2019, she pleaded not guilty tot he charges at Highbury Magistrates' Court.
She was due to stand trial on March 4, 2020, but took her own life on February 15, 2020.
