Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I HOPE WE CAN ONE DAY FIND HARMONY
» Tragic Caroline’s last letter » Inquest hears mum fury at CPS
TRAGIC star Caroline Flack wrote a final message telling of hopes that she and her boyfriend would “find harmony”, her inquest heard.
Former Love Island and X Factor host Caroline, 40, was found hanged at her home in Stoke Newington, North East London, on February 15.
The hearing was told she feared her life and career were “falling apart” and her mental health deteriorated after she was charged with assaulting partner Lewis Burton, 28, in December 2019.
But a paramedic at the scene saw a note on a table that read: “I hope me and Lewis can one day find harmony.”
Flack denied assault but told friends she would rather go to prison than have her private life forensically examined.
Prosecutors had said there was public interest in pursuing the domestic violence case and informed her legal team on February 13. Flack was said to have met defence solicitors the following day, the day before she was found dead.
Her mother Chris and twin sister Jody yesterday blasted the Crown Prosecution Service for conducting a “show trial” based on her celebrity. In a statement read at Poplar coroner’s court, Chris said: “I believe Caroline was seriously let down by the authorities and in particular the CPS for pursuing the case.
“I believe this was a show trial. Being well known should not allow special treatment but should not allow making an example of someone.”
Lisa Ramsarran, a deputy chief Crown prosecutor in North London, told the inquest prosecutors determined the public interest to charge Flack with assault had not been met, on the basis she had made an admission, so they suggested a caution instead.
But police appealed and it was decided to be in the public interest to authorise a charge of assault by beating.
Sister Jody thinks Flack tried to kill herself in December, before her first court date. She said: “I believe the shame... was too much. Her life and reputation was falling apart... because of a false accusation. It was our belief it would not be happening if she wasn’t in the public eye.”
Pals said Flack – who attended the funeral of Love Island star Mike Thalassitis, who killed himself aged 26 in March 2019 – messaged the night before she died saying she was going to kill herself.
They found her on her sofa having swallowed tablets and called emergency services. But paramedics were unable to persuade her to go to hospital, the inquest heard, or section her as she was already in a safe space – her home.
The inquest was adjourned to conclude today.
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