Caroline Flack’s case is to be partially reinvestigated by the Metropolitan Police as “new evidence may be available”, according to a police statement. The television presenter was charged with assaulting her boyfriend and was facing prosecution when she died in February 2020.
The Crown Prosecution Service had suggested that Flack should be cautioned, but the Metropolitan Police contested the decision and moved forward with charges instead. Flack’s mother has heavily criticised the police’s handling of the case, stating in a recent interview that there were “important unanswered questions.”
Flack was best known for presenting the popular reality show Love Island. Following her arrest in December 2019, the CPS determined that a caution was appropriate, only for a senior Met officer to appeal the decision and push for charges of assault by beating instead.
Subsequent to Flack’s death, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) looked into the Metropolitan Police’s decision to charge her and found no evidence of misconduct. The IOPC did, however, urge the police force to apologise to Flack’s relatives due to a failure to record the reason behind the appeal against the CPS decision.
Last week, Flack’s family made a new complaint, which was referred to the IOPC. According to the statement from the police force, new witness evidence may have been discovered. As a result, officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have initiated additional inquiries. Flack’s mother stated that the complaint’s objective is to prompt the arresting officer to give a statement that should have been provided earlier.
Despite the standard of Flack’s arrest being called into question repeatedly by her family, the Metropolitan Police have maintained that the arrest was handled appropriately
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More