Caroline Flack - she was so let down

[Newyearnewmewoooop]

Just watched the documentary, it’s so sad. She was treated so awfully by the press and police.

I feel so bad for her mum and friends and family 😢

I don’t understand all the handwringing that goes on here. She was clearly unwell but if a man had acted as she did we wouldn’t have this documentary or all the articles that have appeared that imo minimise her actions.

Whatever the rights and wrongs in all of this, I can't understand why a woman who thinks her daughter lost her life to the courts of media and public opinion (because as a criminal matter it would have been a slap in the wrist) would make a documentary vilifying others involved .

Lewis is now subject to all this attention when he's gone away quietly and got on with life. As is the police officer and her friends.

And what's it achieved? What if one of those people self harms as a result?

I suspect the real villain in all of this is cocaine (and drink). I doubt any of this would have happened sober.

Have you ever lost a child

What do you think should have happened after that night op, I’m not being goady, I would genuinely like to know what you think should have happened after her partner called police after she assaulted him.
The thing I find sad is that her mum is obviously out to blame someone, we are only getting her side of the story, I think it is telling that her friends are not looking to change any narrative.
I find there is a lot of double standards around her. I can’t see anyone who wouid applaud a 32 year old man dating a 17 year old girl or a man assaulting his partner to the point she was that scared she called the police.

Your friend was a moose and I hope the hubby got rid too. Not nice, sorry, hope you recovered quickly from the crash?

Yeah, the Flack thing was totally meaningless, virtue signalling at it's worst. Far too many people are just selfish, nasty self-entitled pricks these days (sorry, woke up the wrong side of the bed this morning!).

There was a survey done by a charity which found that over half of domestic violence victims said that they reported the abuse to the police at least twice before “appropriate action” was taken. So over half did not feel that the police took appropriate action (this wasn’t defined and was subjective to the victim but would presumably include the police not doing anything, or potentially issuing a caution) on the first report. I can’t find any other stats on how many first time reports lead to cautions.

But I don’t think it’s a relevant defence of Flack. The issue shouldn’t be “they treated Caroline so badly, they should have been more lenient” it should be “let’s treat men who hit their partners more severely!”.

Indeed, and that is the great irony. All the #bekind stuff, she isnt being kind by blaming CF's friends for her death, that is a despicable thing to do in my opinion.

As you said, what if one of them self harmed as a result of this blame? or does kindness only apply singularly to Caroline and noone else?

“He had no injuries other than a small red mark”

Why are so you keen to diminish his injury? I’m not saying he was battered and bruised but it is clear that he was hit on the head with an object (most likely the phone) and this caused an injury to his head which was bleeding.

The following is quoted from a witness statement on behalf of the CPS presented at her inquest:

”Ms Flack accepted that she had caused the injury to Mr Burton’s head and seen the bleeding, and that he was asleep at the time she struck him.”

In a statement made on the 10 November 2025 they said:

“Ms Flack had struck Mr Burton to the head with an object while he was asleep and unable to protect himself. This resulted in an injury that was bleeding”

”He dropped the charges and the police pursued the prosecution regardless”

He was unwilling to support the prosecution because he was concerned about their careers and welfare. “It was noted that Mr Burton did not say that the statements he made in the 999 call and on the Body Worn Footage were untrue.”

There is a longstanding view on MN that female on male violence is not the same as male on female violence because men are physically stronger than women.

I’ve read lots threads on where a female OP has admitted physically assaulting her DP/DH and responses have been along the lines of “well that’s not great, but did he provoke you?”

If anyone interjects to say it is completely unacceptable for any adult, of either sex, to hit another they are told to stop being a ridiculous handmaiden: a woman cannot ever really hurt a man. And anyway it’s almost always men committing domestic violence and if there is the odd case of a woman doing it there must be mitigating circumstances. In the case of Ms Flack, from this thread alone it seems there are some who don’t think she attacked her partner at all, others who say he was only lightly attacked (how many would say a woman with a bruised and bloodied head was lightly attacked), it was due to MH issues and someone suggested that since he had the temerity to form another relationship and get married then he was obviously fine all along.

One of my best friends lost a child suddenly aged 6 to a condition that was relatively rare but there should be awareness about it. She has tried desperately to raise awareness of it to prevent further future deaths.

Noone has ever offered her a TV programme. Why is that?

Victims do not press or drop charges in this country.

I’d find it surprising if the victim not supporting the prosecution was a huge deciding factor in domestic violence cases. There are significant reasons for them to not support it, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t go ahead.

And what do you mean she accidentally hit him. Literally no one can know that. But it’s not surprising it’s what her own mother is saying happened.

It was sad how she was treated but she had a lot of pronlems. Alcoholic, bi-polar, depression

she should never have been on tv/ in the limelight

I felt very sorry for her mother and siblings who seemed unable to fully move past it, even 5 years on. Her mother in particular has been overcome by it all hence her doggedly pursuing an apology from the media and police.

As I understand, she had alcohol issues and had been drinking lots the night of the incident- as had Lewis. She found messages from another woman on his phone and so wrongly decided to hit him on the head with the phone in anger while he was asleep. This didn’t leave a mark or draw blood at all. Lewis threatened to ruin her career in the ensuing argument, she panicked and slit her wrists.

The police were called, the ‘bloodbath’ as reported in the media was as a result of her self inflicted injuries, Lewis was not injured. He then said he didn’t want to pursue charges. The CPS agreed his injuries weren’t serious and he wasn’t keen to pursue a criminal case so dropped it. An officer who, according to the documentary, had some sort of personal vendetta against Caroline then insisted the CPS reconsider this and so they did and charges were pursued.

I think she then unravelled because she didn’t have much outside of her career and ‘fame’. She’d never settled down, despite being in her 40s and her career meant everything to her. The thought of losing that was unbearable, so coupled with pre-existing MH issues and problems with alcohol, it sadly resulted in her death.

The media did turn it into a huge spectacle which definitely didn’t need to happen. Had the CPS also stuck with their initial decision and the police merely cautioned her, she’d likely be alive now. Or at least this was the lawyer’s argument but I’m not so sure. I think Love Island would still have dropped her and it’s unclear whether her career would have picked up again. She was, after all, middle-aged and women of that age tend to struggle to find work in what is an incredibly superficial world.

Having said all of the above, I hope her family find peace. She was clearly very sick and perhaps should have been on suicide watch with someone near her at all times.

I don’t think her mother claimed it was accidental. She said Caroline had his phone in her hand and tapped him on the head with it to wake him up. She perhaps should have acknowledged this was the wrong thing to do more than she seemed to but either way, Lewis wasn’t injured.

So bloody what? yes, he started dating again after 6 months. I didnt realise that was a crime - if it is, then half the country ought to be immediately arrested because I know of people in long term marriages with kids who have moved on faster than 6 months!

FFS- they were dating, they weren't married with children. How long should he have remained single for it be "acceptable"? as far as I can see he has never spoken out about her in any kind of negative way, ever. Its not a crime to date someone else- good grief.

To be honest, the attack happened because Caroline had found messages on his phone from another woman. Makes me wonder if it was his now wife…

Fair enough. The poster said it was accidental so I assumed that came from the documentary.

Did she say “tapped”? That is less believable than accidental.

As far as I have read, those messages were not what she thought they were.

Even if they were, it's not his fault she is dead.

And if it is the same woman, that justifies Caroline’s decision to hit him on the head with a phone?

Also, are you saying that its ok for a man to attack his sleeping girlfriend if he suspects cheating then?

No, he wasn’t. The pictures show it was a little mark on his head that didn’t require a hospital visit. Caroline was taken to hospital as she’d seriously self harmed. The blood at the scene was all hers.

So?

There is a thread running right now where the OP just says that her husband has just hit her. No further details (she gives more details later just not in the OP)

Rightly, the immediate responses are “are you ok” “where is he now” “call the police” “are you safe”

Funnily enough, none of them are “yes but are you actually bleeding” or “but what did you do to provoke that” or “are you having an affair that he’s just found out about”.

Ah so if a man attacked his girlfriend and left only a little mark, thats ok?

I literally cant believe what I am reading in this thread.

"It only left a little mark on his head"
"There was no blood after all"
"well, she did suspect him of cheating..."
"She had MH issues, not her fault"

If one of your relatives was hit on the head by their partner, I wonder if you'd be making these same excuses and telling them "oh get over it! there's only a tiny mark there- no biggie!"

This sums it up for me.