Police say they found Caroline Flack naked and covered in blood during arrest

Caroline Flack was found "naked and covered in blood" by police on the night she was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton last year.

The Love Island host, 40, was found hanged at her Stoke Newington, North London, home on February 15 this year.

An inquest into her death resumed at Poplar Coroner’s Court in London this morning for a second day before Senior Coroner Mary Hassell, with Caroline's family attending via video link.

Today, Detective Inspector Lauren Bateman, of the Metropolitan Police, resumed giving evidence and a police briefing document was presented to the court.

The paperwork was circulated to officers involved in the case following Caroline's arrest at her home in north east London on December 11 last year.

The document stated: "Ms Flack was naked and covered in blood. She was bleeding from an injury to her left wrist.

"Mr Burton was in boxer shorts. He said he was suddenly woken by her hitting him on the head by the object with some force...

"Ms Flack made numerous admissions to the assault in the presence of officers.

"They included: 'I hit him. He was cheating on me.' At this time it is unclear what object was used to assault Mr Burton.

"He assumed it was a desk fan or a lamp. Ms Flack's phone has been seized as it had a significant amount of blood on it and a crack in one of the corners suggesting this may have been the weapon.'

Burton told police he did not wish to proceed with a complaint against her. he had suffered a "superficial injury" to his head while Caroline had self-inflicted injuries to her wrist.

The court heard that at the scene, Caroline told officers: "I did it. I whacked him round the head . I admit I did it. I used the phone.

"I had his phone in one hand and mine in the other. I whacked him round the head. There was no excuse for it. I was just upset. I admit I did it.''

But in an interview, DI Bateman said Caroline said she "flicked" Lewis in a bid to wake him up.

She thought she might have dropped the phone on his head. But she did not believe she caused the injury. She did not know how it had happened

Bateman told the court: "It sounded like she was saying it was an accident, not an assault.''

The court heard that in her interview with police, Caroline said: "I admit I did it. I never hit him over the head. It was a sideways hit.

"He was never hit over the head. It was reckless. I whacked him. It wasn't aggressive. The whole thing feels very blurry.''

The court Caroline said she felt "horrible" when she saw the blood. She had not wanted to hurt him. That was not her intention.

DI Bateman added to the court: "The injury [to Burton] was a cut to the forehead. I would say that wasn't necessarily minor.'..

"I felt in these circumstances it was not a minor offence. Mr Burton was asleep at the time. It was an unprovoked attack while he was defenceless."

When asked by the coroner if she would have done anything differently, DI Bateman replied: "No, absolutely not.''

The court heard how Caroline was taken to hospital to treat the injuries to her wrist and was booked in for an appointment with a plastic surgeon.

Yesterday, the court heard how the assault case against Caroline was going to be dealt with as a caution until police appealed the prosecutor's decision.

DI Bateman was not involved in the original decision to refer the case to the CPS, but she was involved in the appeal against the CPS decision to caution.

She told the court today: "Cautions in domestic abuse cases are very rare."

Domestic abuse encompasses family members and people who are intimate partners.

The coroner told the court Caroline's family felt she was treated "badly" by the authorities over the decision to prosecute her rather than giving a caution.

DI Bateman told the court: "This was about a celebrity. Celebrities should not get any better treatment than anyone else or any worse."

She added: "I would have done exactly the same thing if it had been anyone else. I know that was the case."

The inquest heard that CPS prosecutor Alison Wright did not believe charging Flack was in the public interest.

Sections of her summary were read in court. It said: "Flack states that she is going to kill herself as a result of Burton's alleged cheating.

"She has repeatedly admitted she assaulted him.

"I do not believe that the case is in the public interest to prosecute as the injured party does not support the allegation, there is no domestic violence history, the suspect is 40 with no previous convictions.

"There is nothing so serious about this incident which means the guidelines (to issue a caution) need to be diverted from."

The former Love Island host, 40, took her own life at her flat in Stoke Newington, north-east London on February 15 days after learning her trial over the alleged attack on Burton was going ahead.

She was charged with assault by beating and pleaded not guilty.

Her boyfriend always maintained her innocence, while her family slammed prosecutors for pursuing the case against the star - calling it a "show trial".

She stepped down from hosting Love Island, and in an unpublished Instagram post released by her family after her death Caroline said 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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