Caroline Flack ‘was being harassed by an ex-partner’, inquest documents reveal 

Caroline Flack was ‘being harassed by an ex-partner’ which added to her stress during the court ordeal that led to her suicide, inquest documents have revealed.

The former Love Island host, 40, had a stalker in the days running up to the court case following an assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton. 

Flack was found dead at her flat in Stoke Newington, London, next to a note that read ‘please let this court case be dropped’, the day after she heard her trial would be going ahead. 

The harassment was adding to her stress and anxiety, according to a psychiatrist who assessed the star, reported the Daily Star.

The Crown Prosecution Service heard about Flack’s worsening mental health in a medical report two months before she died on February 15.

Caroline Flack , 40, had a stalker in the days running up to the court case following her assault on boyfriend Lewis Burton. Pictured leaving Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on December 23, 2019

Lawyers used the information to try to get her assault case thrown out but prosecutors said the harassment was a separate crime.

Yesterday a Metropolitan Police spokesman said there was no record of a harassment allegation made by the star. 

Coroner Mary Hassell recorded a verdict of suicide and banned reporting the name of the perpetrator during the two-day inquest.

She added that the harasser was not Burton, 28, during the hearing at Poplar’s Coroner’s Court in east London. 

The individual responsible was not called forward as a witness.   

After the hearing, which ended on Thursday, Caroline Flack’s mother said police and prosecutors ‘had it in for’ the Love Island host. 

Flack was found dead at her flat in Stoke Newington, London, next to a note that read 'please let this court case be dropped', the day after she heard her trial would be going ahead. Pictured, Flack and her former boyfriend Lewis Burton in October 2019

Flack was found dead at her flat in Stoke Newington, London, next to a note that read ‘please let this court case be dropped’, the day after she heard her trial would be going ahead. Pictured, Flack and her former boyfriend Lewis Burton in October 2019

She said officials pursued the court case that triggered her suicide because of her ‘celebrity status’.

Yesterday, Scotland Yard defended appealing the Crown Prosecution Service’s original decision to caution her, a move that saw her then charged with assault.

It went on to insist it had not had any contact with her since her first magistrates court appearance in December 23 last year.

A spokesperson for the force told MailOnline: ‘Given the nature of the alleged offence, a domestic abuse case, the police were required to send it to the CPS for a charging decision.’

Flack was arrested in December after striking her boyfriend while he slept because she suspected he had cheated on her. 

Burton did not support the assault charge and did not co-operate with the prosecution.

The former Love Island host (pictured in May 2019) was arrested in December after striking her boyfriend while he slept because she suspected he had cheated on her

The former Love Island host (pictured in May 2019) was arrested in December after striking her boyfriend while he slept because she suspected he had cheated on her

The CPS had originally decided to issue her with a caution, but the police officer in charge of the case Detective Inspector Lauren Bateman applied for a formal charge, which was then approved. 

In emotional exchanges during this week’s inquest Flack’s mother Christine blasted the senior Met Police officer.

She pointed out officers found her at the crime scene with an injury caused by self-harm.

Accusing DI Bateman of treating her more harshly due to her celebrity status, Mrs Flack told the inquest: ‘She cut her arm. You were putting an appeal in to get her prosecuted, you never bothered to see her.

‘If it had been… an ordinary person, you wouldn’t have prosecuted.

‘I see domestic abuse and I just think you should be disgusted with yourself so there is nothing we can do to bring Caroline back. I hope in hindsight you do regret this. This girl killed herself because you put an appeal through.’

Earlier in the hearing DI Batemen had insisted she had not treated the presenter any differently because she was famous and would not change her decisions.