Caroline Flack death: Met Police refers itself to watchdog over contact with presenter before her death

‘No officer is on restricted duties or suspended,’ Scotland Yard says

The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over its contact with Caroline Flack before her death, the force has said.

Flack was found dead on Saturday after taking her own life as she awaited trial for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.

The force’s directorate of professional standards (DPS) reviewed all previous police contact with the 40-year-old Love Island presenter, before making a mandatory referral on Wednesday, Scotland Yard said in a statement.

It is standard practice to do so when a member of the public dies or is seriously injured and has had recent contact with police, the force said.

No conduct issues have been identified by the DPS and no officer has been served a notice of investigation, according to the statement, which added: “No officer is on restricted duties or suspended.”

The watchdog – the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) – said it would make a decision on its level of involvement after careful assessment of the information sent in the referral.

“Receipt of a referral does not mean an investigation will necessarily follow,” an IOPC spokesperson said.

It comes after Flack’s parents released an unpublished Instagram post, written before her death, in which she detailed her frustration at losing her “ability to speak” amid intense media attention in the wake of her arrest on 12 December.

“Within 24 hours my whole world and future was swept from under my feet and all the walls that I had taken so long to build around me, collapsed,” Flack had written.

“I am suddenly on a different kind of stage and everyone is watching it happen. I have always taken responsibility for what happened that night. Even on the night. But the truth is ... It was an accident.

“I’ve been having some sort of emotional breakdown for a very long time. But I am NOT a domestic abuser. We had an argument and an accident happened. An accident.

Flack added: “I’ve lost my job. My home. My ability to speak. And the truth has been taken out of my hands and used as entertainment.”

“I can’t spend every day hidden away being told not to say or speak to anyone.”

The TV presenter’s death has sparked debate about the relationship between the media, celebrity privacy, and the justice system in the age of social media.

Flack’s cause of death was announced by Poplar Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, with an inquest hearing she had taken her own life at her home in east London.

Additional reporting by PA

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