The inquest into Caroline Flack’s death has resumed today, six months after she sadly took her own life, and it has been revealed she left a handwritten note to her boyfriend.
The host of the popular ITV show, Love Island, Caroline Flack died back in February.
The hearing is continuing at Poplar Coroner’s Court in London before Senior Coroner Mary Hassell, with Caroline’s mother Christine and sister Jody watching the proceedings via Zoom.
The Crown Prosecution Service lawyers, Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service also watching the proceedings online, the Mirror reports.
Caroline’s friends’ father, Stephen Teasdale, was the first witness statement to be given remotely. He was sent to the scene when Caroline’s sister phoned her friend Louise to say she couldn’t get into her address.
He said: “We came to the flat and tried to force entry. We thought about phoning the police but knew the landlady … We got the key and let ourselves into the flat.”
He added: “…Jody started CPR. We were giving CPR for somewhere between five and ten minutes, then the police took over.”
Paramedic David O’Toole said he entered the property later and found two women ‘looking extremely distressed’ on the sofa.
He said the victim had been dead for a number of hours and the women had last seen her alive at 10:30am that day.
One of the crew pointed out a handwritten note placed on an open magazine on the coffee table with ‘Lewis’ written on the front.
The note stated: “I hope one day me and Lewis can find harmony.”
The court explained that no alcohol was found in Caroline’s system, but she had been taking drugs to treat insomnia. A post mortem found no signs of assault to her body and the drugs to be of non-lethal levels.
A psychiatrist who treated Caroline, Dr Tamsin Lewis, presented a witness statement to court.
She explained she was contacted by Caroline’s assistant on December 17th 2019 after the row with Lewis Burton that led to her arrest.
Dr Lewis explained that Caroline was ‘incredibly distressed’ in the middle of a ‘media crisis’ and ‘could not sleep’.
She added that Caroline said it was nothing more than a ‘lover’s tiff’ but was concerned about the ‘media storm’.
Dr Lewis added that Caroline did not admit to suicidal thoughts, but did admit to excessive drinking to ‘numb herself’. Dr Lewis prescribed sleeping tablets and antibiotics to treat Caroline’s finger injury she gained in the fight with her boyfriend.
In her boyfriend’s witness statement, he said: “The last time he saw Caroline she was very upset, in fact devastated, she was not in a good place emotionally…
“What was worrying her most was the police case and losing her presenting job on Love Island, plus not being able to see me.”
Caroline Flack, 40, took her life at her flat in Stoke Newington in north-east London on February 15th, days after learning her trial over an alleged attack on boyfriend Lewis Burton was going ahead.
Caroline pleaded not guilty and her boyfriend maintained her innocence – her family slammed prosecutors for pursuing the case, calling it a ‘show trial’.
In an unpublished Instagram post, released by Caroline’s family, she stepped down from hosting Love Island saying her ‘whole world and future was swept from under my feet’ after her arrest.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Caroline Flack
“It is normal practice for prosecutors to hold a debriefing in complex or sensitive cases after they have ended.
“This has taken place and found that the case was handled appropriately and in line with our published legal guidance.”
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