11/12/25
Many lawyers will know how brutal the collision between fame and vulnerability can be in the criminal justice system.
Over three decades I have represented a range of celebrities from pop stars to sports stars. Yet none have exposed the pitfalls and need for change more than the highly publicised prosecution and suicide of my client, Caroline Flack.
Her case starkly demonstrated the system’s deep reluctance to take account of the realities faced by those who live in the unforgiving glare of the media.
The Crown Prosecution Service adhered, quite rightly, to its policy on cases involving alleged domestic violence. However, in my view the system did not allow a sufficiently thorough review of Flack’s case on its own merits.
There was seemingly no appreciation of the press exposure she would inevitably receive and the catastrophic damage it might cause. Criminal prosecution is an ordeal for anyone, but for someone like Caroline Flack it can become a frenzied public spectacle littered with career-ending repercussions. The criminal justice system turned a blind eye to that reality.
Compounding this was the failure to take her fragile mental health into account. The system effectively ignored clear signs of her acute vulnerability.
The CPS had police body-worn video of Flack’s prophetic words that she would end her life. Powerful medical evidence, including a psychiatric report about her fragile mental health, was submitted on her behalf. It was dismissed with a two-line response. There was no attempt to seek alternative expert evidence.
These two failings can reinforce one another. The system’s refusal to take account of the destructive impact of publicity on a suspect can hugely exacerbate the psychological strain that that person is under. It treated Caroline Flack as though she were unaffected by the blinding glare of media attention and was resilient enough to withstand it. She was neither.
In my view, the publicity surrounding the decision to charge will have made it difficult to review or reverse. The CPS originally decided Flack should be cautioned but only changed that view after the police appealed.
There is no doubt in my mind that the original decision was the correct one. The CPS maintain to this day that my client’s celebrity status played no part in their decision making – but it absolutely should have done.
Failure to learn the lessons from Caroline Flack’s death will risk more dreadful cases, where a relatively minor offence can lead to a sentence far more final and brutal than any court could impose.
Paul’s article was published in The Times, 11 December 2025, and can be found
here.