Very sad and shocking about Caroline Flack. I didn't think she was mad or bad enough to commit suicde.
It is a tragedy straight out of Shakespeare
CREDIT: INSTAGRAM
In the early hours of the morning, while Burton was asleep, Flack began examining his mobile phone and became enraged when she discovered text messages from another woman.
The exchanges, which involved a woman in her 60s, were entirely innocent – but Flack, who had battled depression and anxiety, exploded, convinced that Burton was cheating on her.
Launching herself at her sleeping boyfriend, she hit him over the head with a table lamp and threw his mobile phone at him. After flipping over a table, she cut herself on a glass, receiving a deep wound to her arm.
Burton, who is 6ft 3in tall, was unable to restrain his 5ft 3in girlfriend or calm her down, and at 5.25am made a 999 call asking for the police.
He told the call handler: "She tried to kill me, mate. She's going mad, breaking stuff. She almost cracked my head open."
The call handler noted that, in the background, Flack could be heard screaming: "You ruined my life."
In a sign of how seriously the report was taken, the first police officer arrived at the ground floor flat, in the Barnsbury area of Islington, within eight minutes.
The door was answered by Flack and Burton, pictured below in a previous Instagram post. According to the officer, both were covered in blood.
Flack with her boyfriend, Lewis Burton, in an image posted on his Instagram
In his notes, the officer likened the scene to "something out of a horror movie".
Flack was still extremely irate and had to be restrained by officers, who were fitted with body-worn cameras recording the whole interaction. She was arrested on suspicion of assault and paramedics were called to the scene.
After assessing both Flack and Burton, it was decided that Flack ought to be taken to hospital for treatment to her wound.
While under caution, she allegedly admitted the attack and told officers she would "kill herself".
The following day, Friday December 13, after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service Flack was charged with assault by beating and summoned to appear before Highbury Magistrates' Court on the day before Christmas Eve.
She was released on bail with the condition that she was not to contact Burton.
Professionally, the incident could not have come at a worse time, with Flack preparing to fly out to South Africa for the launch of the new series of Love Island, which began on January 8.
ITV executives held a series of meetings over the weekend and, on Monday December 16, Flack agreed to stand down as host of the programme she loved.
According to friends she was devastated at losing the £600,000-a-year role and also deeply hurt by what she perceived as a lack of support from the television company to which she had been so loyal.
In the fortnight before her appearance in court, Flack and Burton remained in a relationship – even though they were not supposed to contact one another – and he made it clear to the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that he did not wish to press charges.
But with prosecutors under constant pressure to demonstrate how seriously they take allegations of domestic violence, they refused to drop the case.
On December 23, a tearful Flack appeared at Highbury Magistrates' Court to face one charge of assault by beating, a relatively low-level offence that carries a maximum six-month prison sentence.
Caroline Flack had to be escorted by police when she appeared at court CREDIT: AP
Burton attended the short hearing to offer his support, and Flack's lawyer told the court: "He does not support this prosecution, has never supported this prosecution, and has strong feelings about the hearing this morning. He was never a victim, as it were – he was a witness.”
The lawyer also pleaded with the district judge to grant Flack unconditional bail so that she could see Burton, telling him: "They are still in a relationship. It's Christmas, it's New Year, Miss Flack has suffered enough from this prosecution and she needs people around her."
The application was not granted and Flack was ordered to undergo a risk assessment before the next court hearing, set for March 4. Her flat was put on the market and she moved into a London hotel, telling friends she no longer felt safe at home.
Given her history of anxiety and depression, those closest to her were concerned about whether she would be able to cope with such a fall from grace.
The trial, and her biggest fear
On Christmas Day, Flack volunteered at a charity in east London that was putting on a lunch for socially isolated people.
While understandably worried about the legal case, she was more anxious about watching the new series of Love Island, going ahead without her and being hosted by her friend Laura Whitmore.
At one point she considered checking in to a £15,000 a week retreat in Thailand in order to escape but instead, with New Year looming, she jetted to Los Angeles. According to friends she spent her time in the US hiking, visiting the gym and getting her life back on track.
Despite the fact that she was still banned from contacting Burton, he posted messages on social media in which he pledged his love and support.
Flack returned to London at the end of January and moved into a new flat in a converted school in Stoke Newington, in the north-east of the capital.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // FUNCTIONS // performance POLYFILL // using the performance polyfill from hgere:
https://gist.github.com/RubaXa/8662836 (function(e){var b=Date.now?Date.now():+(new Date),g=e.performance||{},f=[],a={},d=function(k,l){var j=0,m=f.length,h=[];for(;j '+(i+" ").slice(0,20)+': '+dfpad.performance
.toFixed(5)); } } // add this to the parent.tmgAds obj to record in page if(dfpad.scope){ if(typeof tmgAds != 'undefined'){ if(tmgAds.ads.hasOwnProperty(dfpad.dfp.pos)){ tmgAds.ads[dfpad.dfp.pos].dfpad = dfpad; logit('INFO: Adding [dfpad.performance] ad object to the parent.tmgAds for ease of analysis'); //make sure we've got an obj to propagate tmgAds.performance.ads = tmgAds.performance.ads || {}; tmgAds.performance.ads[dfpad.dfp.at] = tmgAds.performance.ads[dfpad.dfp.at] || {}; for(i in dfpad.performance){ tmgAds.performance.ads[dfpad.dfp.at] = dfpad.performance; } logit('INFO: Adding perfomance data [dfpad.performance] to parent.tmgAds.performance.ads[adtype]'); } else { logit('WARNING: parent.tmgAds.ads['+dfpad.dfp.pos+'] does not exist'); } } else { logit('WARNING: tmgAds is undefined'); } } else { logit('WARNING: dfpad.scope='+dfpad.scope); } // Now load any viewability metrics/tags tmgAdsLoadTags(); }; // do this after page loads var tmgAdsLoadTags = function(){ logit('INFO: Running tmgAdsPageLoad() - Loads viewability/analytics metrics.'); dfpad.performance.tsTagsLoadStart = tmgAdsTimer(); load = function(dfpad){ dfpad.tags.tsOnload = tmgAdsTimer(); dfpad.tags.tmLoadTime = Number((dfpad.tags.tsOnload - dfpad.tags.tsStart).toFixed(5)); // now add this data to the tmgAds.performance. obj if(dfpad.scope){ tmgAds.performance.ads[dfpad.dfp.at][dfpad.tags.name] = dfpad.tags; } }; if(dfpad.dfp.cms=='aem' || dfpad.dfp.cms=='escenic' || dfpad.dfp.cms=='gamp' || dfpad.dfp.cms=='fbia'){ if(dfpad.matched.geo && dfpad.matched.size){ // make sure this geo and size need monitoring for(i in dfpad.tags){ // itterate through list of tags if(dfpad.tags.hasOwnProperty('active') && dfpad.tags.active){ // Create the script to insert this script.tag then append to body dfpad.tags.tsStart = tmgAdsTimer(); dfpad.tags.script = document.createElement('script'); dfpad.tags.script.src = dfpad.tags.tag; dfpad.tags.script.onload = load(dfpad); document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].appendChild(dfpad.tags.script); logit('INFO: Viewability: Active ['+dfpad.tags.name+']: '+dfpad.tags.tag); } else { logit('INFO: Viewability: Inactive ['+dfpad.tags.name+']:'); } } } else { logit('Geo and/or Size not matched: geo='+dfpad.matched.geo+' size='+dfpad.matched.size); } } dfpad.performance.tsTagsLoadEnd = tmgAdsTimer(); dfpad.performance.tmTagsLoadTime = Number((dfpad.performance.tsTagsLoadEnd - dfpad.performance.tsTagsLoadStart).toFixed(5)); }; //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // MAIN LOGIC - CHECK TO SEE IF WE NED TO LOG THIS OUT logit('INFO: AdSlot Header Start:'); if(document.addEventListener) { document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", tmgAdsOnLoad, false); } else { window.onload = function(){tmgAdsOnLoad();}; } // rewrite some often used methods of bad ads. window.alert = function(){logit("DANGER: window.alert attempted to be used");}; window.confirm = function(){logit("DANGER: window.confirm attempted to be used");}; // temporary stopgap, fix this later, fo the geo data for(var i in dfpad.geo.keypairs){ var kvp = dfpad.geo.keypairs; if(kvp.length > 0){ var data = kvp.split('='); dfpad.dfp.geo[data[0]] = data[1]; // allows us to keep details in the ad and store this in the parent tmgAds obj dfpad.geo.keys[data[0]] = data[1]; } } // now assess if we are in a google safeframe: if(document.domain == 'tpc.googlesyndication.com'){ dfpad.safeframe = true; logit('INFO: SafeFrame=TRUE'); } else { logit('INFO: SafeFrame=FALSE'); } // set document.domain - do this on GAMP/FBIA pages if(dfpad.dfp.cms=='gamp' || dfpad.dfp.cms=='fbia'){ logit('WARNING: Page is NOT AEM or Escenic ie; its a Google AMP or Facebook IA page -> NOT setting the document.domain as this is outside of the telegraph.co.uk namespace'); } else { // get local reference to the window.tmgAds obj if(!dfpad.safeframe){ // if not a saferame ie; not tpc.googlesyndication.com domain logit('ADTECH: SafeFrame NOT detected - domain='+document.domain); // get local refernce to the window.tmgAds obj if(typeof parent.tmgAds != 'undefined'){ tmgAds = parent.tmgAds; dfpad.scope = true; logit('SUCCESS: parent.tmgAds is available --> tmgAds=parent.tmgAds, dfpad.scope=true'); if(tmgAds.plugins){ if(tmgAds.plugins.adconsole){ dfpad.debug = tmgAds.plugins.adconsole; logit('SUCCESS: Setting dfpad.debug='+tmgAds.plugins.adconsole+' as the user has set the adconsole flag'); } } else { logit('WARNING: AdSlot Start - parent.tmgAds.plugins is NOT set'); } // get local refernce to the window.tmgAds obj if(dfpad.scope && typeof parent.googletag != 'undefined'){ googletag = parent.googletag; logit('SUCCESS: parent.googletag is available --> googletag=parent.googletag'); } else { logit('WARNING: parent.googletag NOT available'); } } else { logit('WARNING: parent.tmgAds NOT available'); } } else { logit('ADTECH: SafeFrame detected - domain='+document.domain); } } // now get check if geo and size are among those we need to monitor and flag accordingly (used later for loadingh MOAT etc). for(var i in dfpad.target.countries){ if(dfpad.target.countries == dfpad.dfp.geo.ct){ logit('SUCCESS: GeoIP matched: '+dfpad.target.countries); dfpad.matched.geo = true; } } for(var i in dfpad.target.sizes){ if(dfpad.target.sizes == dfpad.dfp.sz){ logit('SUCCESS: Size matched: '+dfpad.target.sizes); dfpad.matched.size = true; } } // logit('INFO: AdSlot Header End:'); dfpad.performance.tsHeadEnd = tmgAdsTimer(); dfpad.performance.tmHeadLoadTime = Number((dfpad.performance.tsHeadEnd - dfpad.performance.tsHeadStart).toFixed(5)); dfpad.performance.tsCreativeStart = tmgAdsTimer(); window.dicnf = {};(function(){/* Copyright The Closure Library Authors. SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */ function aa(a){var b=0;return function(){return b>>0),ca=0,da=Date.now||function(){return+new Date};var ea=Array.prototype.forEach?function(a,b){Array.prototype.forEach.call(a,b,void 0)}:function(a,b){for(var c=a.length,d="string"===typeof a?a.split(""):a,e=0;ee?encodeURIComponent(ya(a,b,c,d,e+1)):"...";return encodeURIComponent(String(a))}function O(a,b,c,d){a.a.push(b);a.b=xa(c,d)} function Aa(a,b,c){b=b+"//pagead2.googlesyndication.com"+c;var d=Ba(a)-c.length;if(0>d)return"";a.a.sort(function(n,m){return n-m});c=null;for(var e="",h=0;h=k.length){d-=k.length;b+=k;e=a.c;break}a.f&&(e=d,k[e-1]==a.c&&--e,b+=k.substr(0,e),e=a.c,d=0);c=null==c?g:c}}a="";null!=c&&(a=e+"trn="+c);return b+a} function Ba(a){var b=1,c;for(c in a.b)b=c.length>b?c.length:b;return 3997-b-a.c.length-1};function Ca(){var a=void 0===a?K:a;this.b="http:"===a.location.protocol?"http:":"https:";this.a=Math.random()}function Da(){var a=P,b=Q.google_srt;0=b&&(a.a=b)}function Ea(a,b,c,d,e){if((d?a.a:Math.random())Math.random())}function Ka(a){a&&S&&T()&&(S.clearMarks("goog_"+a.label+"_"+a.uniqueId+"_start"),S.clearMarks("goog_"+a.label+"_"+a.uniqueId+"_end"))} Ja.prototype.start=function(a,b){if(!this.a)return null;var c=Ga()||Fa();a=new Ha(a,b,c);b="goog_"+a.label+"_"+a.uniqueId+"_start";S&&T()&&S.mark(b);return a};function La(){var a=U;this.h=P;this.b=null;this.j=this.f;this.a=void 0===a?null:a;this.c=!1}function Ma(a,b,c,d){try{if(a.a&&a.a.a){var e=a.a.start(b.toString(),3);var h=c();var g=a.a;c=e;if(g.a&&"number"===typeof c.value){var f=Ga()||Fa();c.duration=f-c.value;var l="goog_"+c.label+"_"+c.uniqueId+"_end";S&&T()&&S.mark(l);!g.a||2048vu("https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/pcs/view?xai\x3dAKAOjsvdY2YwA65iOcrX2ARGU6ZJGoKeYiRCoIzTwHOtSw6w9xEKSK02cDY2-v9ghgm2_zBYxrEq7nDeh8YzwnAAg5McRPEHcmTcH-DWOkI0SL7mcUJQ4v-DYYydb9eiBV3jq0zHYpxqGdv_dtYM53nlDxlazUlvtf9zZ252K2HZynupMlfdH6PurohVwedang4lUV1NXxEaJnJWe7a1aSroZTQevVW-XPuEWFZwvgewGn2th4-9gnItxsJ2rPuQaYheV2imApRvbwlHiDnlALWpHiqeRDru2Vrq93bkjUs6KCdv-Q\x26sig\x3dCg0ArKJSzNHnbfgPgG_BEAE\x26urlfix\x3d1\x26adurl\x3d")
var unruly = window.unruly || {}; unruly.native = unruly.native || {}; unruly.native.siteId = 1100588; unruly.native.onFallback = function adFallback() { return ''; };
{"transport": {"beacon": true, "xhrpost": false},"requests": {"ampeos": "https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pcs/activeview?xai=AKAOjsvuxaiQug0IJQVIVu_h22bbM82AO7y0AuGGRkZ7xazCU2J8v8dJEclxcVcs35l5YKLiihOSo-7mkm4cKd83wJJMdy2oKfXGA_YQseUZ7Bo&sig=Cg0ArKJSzKVix2uF75QrEAE&id=ampeos&o=${elementX},${elementY}&d=${elementWidth},${elementHeight}&ss=${screenWidth},${screenHeight}&bs=${viewportWidth},${viewportHeight}&mcvt=${maxContinuousVisibleTime}&mtos=0,0,${maxContinuousVisibleTime},${maxContinuousVisibleTime},${maxContinuousVisibleTime}&tos=0,0,${totalVisibleTime},0,0&tfs=${firstSeenTime}&tls=${lastSeenTime}&g=${minVisiblePercentage}&h=${maxVisiblePercentage}&pt=${pageLoadTime}&tt=${totalTime}&rpt=${navTiming(navigationStart,loadEventStart)}&rst=${navTiming(navigationStart)}&r=de&isd=${initialScrollDepth}&msd=${maxScrollDepth}"},"triggers": {"endOfSession": {"on": "visible","request": "ampeos","visibilitySpec": {"reportWhen": "documentExit","selector": ":root","visiblePercentageMin": 50}}}}
{"uid":0.8870845973181689,"hostPeerName":"https://www-telegraph-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org","initialGeometry":"{\"windowCoords_t\":0,\"windowCoords_r\":360,\"windowCoords_b\":607,\"windowCoords_l\":0,\"frameCoords_t\":13510.5,\"frameCoords_r\":330,\"frameCoords_b\":13760.5,\"frameCoords_l\":30,\"posCoords_t\":6364,\"posCoords_b\":6614,\"posCoords_r\":330,\"posCoords_l\":30,\"styleZIndex\":\"\",\"allowedExpansion_r\":60,\"allowedExpansion_b\":357,\"allowedExpansion_t\":0,\"allowedExpansion_l\":0,\"yInView\":0,\"xInView\":1}","permissions":"{\"expandByOverlay\":true,\"expandByPush\":true,\"readCookie\":false,\"writeCookie\":false}","metadata":"{\"shared\":{\"sf_ver\":\"1-0-37\",\"ck_on\":1,\"flash_ver\":\"26.0.0\",\"canonical_url\":\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/17/tortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack/\",\"amp\":{\"canonical_url\":\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/17/tortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack/\"}}}","reportCreativeGeometry":false,"isDifferentSourceWindow":false,"sentinel":"1-15392544951610002908","width":400,"height":300,"_context":{"ampcontextVersion":"2002112037430","ampcontextFilepath":"https://3p.ampproject.net/2002112037430/ampcontext-v0.js","sourceUrl":"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/17/tortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack/amp/#origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&prerenderSize=1&visibilityState=prerender&paddingTop=32&p2r=0&horizontalScrolling=0&csi=1&aoh=15821482225705&viewerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Famp%2Fs%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2020%2F02%2F17%2Ftortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack%2Famp%2F&history=1&storage=1&cid=1&cap=navigateTo%2Ccid%2CfullReplaceHistory%2Cfragment%2CreplaceUrl%2CiframeScroll","referrer":"https://www.google.com/","canonicalUrl":"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/17/tortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack/","pageViewId":"8418","location":{"href":"https://www-telegraph-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/17/tortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack/amp/?amp_js_v=0.1&usqp=mq331AQCKAE%3D#origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&prerenderSize=1&visibilityState=prerender&paddingTop=32&p2r=0&horizontalScrolling=0&csi=1&aoh=15821482225705&viewerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Famp%2Fs%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2020%2F02%2F17%2Ftortured-final-weeks-caroline-flack%2Famp%2F&history=1&storage=1&cid=1&cap=navigateTo%2Ccid%2CfullReplaceHistory%2Cfragment%2CreplaceUrl%2CiframeScroll"},"startTime":1582148268314,"tagName":"AMP-AD","mode":{"localDev":false,"development":false,"minified":true,"lite":false,"test":false,"version":"2002112037430","rtvVersion":"012002112037430"},"canary":false,"hidden":false,"initialLayoutRect":{"left":30,"top":6364,"width":300,"height":250},"initialIntersection":{"time":43518.59999999999,"rootBounds":{"left":0,"top":0,"width":360,"height":607,"bottom":607,"right":360,"x":0,"y":0},"boundingClientRect":{"left":30,"top":-782.5,"width":300,"height":250,"bottom":-532.5,"right":330,"x":30,"y":-782.5},"intersectionRect":{"left":0,"top":0,"width":0,"height":0,"bottom":0,"right":0,"x":0,"y":0},"intersectionRatio":0},"domFingerprint":"1808626523","experimentToggles":{"pump-early-frame":true,"chunked-amp":true,"amp-ad-ff-adx-ady":false,"amp-consent-v2":true,"swg-gpay-api":true,"canary":false,"amp-story-v1":true,"hidden-mutation-observer":true,"fix-inconsistent-responsive-height-selection":false,"a4aProfilingRate":false,"version-locking":true,"amp-auto-ads-adsense-holdout":true,"layoutbox-invalidate-on-scroll":true,"as-use-attr-for-format":false,"adsense-ad-size-optimization":false,"blurry-placeholder":true,"amp-playbuzz":true,"flexAdSlots":false,"amp-action-macro":true,"fixed-elements-in-lightbox":true,"amp-access-iframe":true,"fie-css-cleanup":true,"amp-nested-menu":true,"amp-mega-menu":true,"doubleclickSraExp":false,"swg-gpay-native":true,"amp-sidebar-swipe-to-dismiss":true,"doubleclickSraReportExcludedBlock":false,"ampdoc-closest":true,"amp-story-responsive-units":true,"ios-fixed-no-transfer":false,"amp-auto-ads-no-op-experiment":false,"amp-consent-geo-override":true},"sentinel":"1-15392544951610002908"}}" height="250" width="300" data-amp-3p-sentinel="1-15392544951610002908" allow="sync-xhr 'none';" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" allowtransparency="" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" sandbox="allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-forms allow-modals allow-pointer-lock allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts" class="i-amphtml-fill-content" id="google_ads_iframe_2" style="border: 0px; margin: auto; padding: 0px !important; display: block; height: 250px; max-height: 100%; max-width: 100%; min-height: 0px; min-width: 0px; width: 300px; transform: translate(-50%, -50%); top: 0px; left: 0px; position: absolute; bottom: 0px; right: 0px;">
Caroline Flack in Barcelona earlier this month CREDIT: INSTAGRAM
Last week she was pictured laughing with a friend at a climbing wall near her home. She also visited Barcelona with a friend, pictured above, where she was said to be in good spirits.
Friends, family and members of her management team reassured her that she would overcome whatever lay ahead and were increasingly confident that the CPS would not press on with the case.
But on Valentine's Day came the news she had been dreading – that despite Burton's refusal to cooperate with the case, the CPS was going ahead with the trial.
The hearing was listed to take place on March 4, and Flack was terrified about the prospect of standing trial.
According to sources, her biggest fear was that the body-worn camera footage from the officer who arrested her would be broadcast, showing her at her worst.
Caroline Flack (right) and her friend Lou Teasdale in a photograph posted on Instagram
Concerned for her welfare, one of her closest friends, Lou Teasdale, a celebrity hair stylist (pictured with Flack above), offered to stay with her for a few days.
At 10.30pm on Friday, paramedics were called to the flat amid concern over Flack's welfare, but following an assessment by crews it was decided that there was no need to admit her to hospital.
The following morning, reassured that there was nothing more to worry about, Teasdale was persuaded to leave the flat and go to the shops.
When she returned a short time later, she was unable to get back in.
She called friends, who managed to gain entry.
They found Flack unresponsive and, after paramedics were called, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/19/caroline-flacks-instagram-post-written-died-released-family/amp/
The presenter - who was found dead in her London home four days ago - said pictures from the scene of the incident featured her own blood and were sold to a newspaper, although she did not say who was responsible for leaking the images.
