The Sunday Times Magazine • 17with Dave Danger, the drummer for the
indie band the Holloways. They were
together for three years, then “on and off ”
for two more — Caroline’s longest
romantic relationship.
But it was always work that got her
through, particularly live TV, which was so
adrenaline-fuelled and all-consuming that
everything else dropped away. “Usually she
could see a way out — she’d get up, go to
work, do, do, do,” Christine says. “This time
there was nothing for her to get up for.”
Shortly after Caroline was arrested she
“stepped down” from her role on the ITV
show Love Island, according to the official
announcement. But Christine says she
was “taken off ” by the channel. “It was not
voluntary,” she says. “ITV asked her to step
down and she didn’t have a choice. After
that, they didn’t help her, she didn’t really
hear from them.”
The channel cannot comment on the
medical support offered to an individual.
“Everyone at ITV is absolutely devastated
and still trying to process this tragic news,”
said Kevin Lygo, the director of television
at ITV, at the time. “After Caroline stepped
down from the show ITV made it clear that
the door was left open for her to return and
the Love Island production team remained
in regular contact with her and continued
to offer support over the last few months ...
We will all miss her very much.”
Did Christine hear from the channel after
her death? “No, I never did. I heard from
the people who worked with her directly on
Love Island and the crew have been amazing
to me, but not ITV, I haven’t ever heard
from them.”
The weekend before Caroline died she
went for a walk and a roast with Christine
and Christine’s partner. A few days later
Caroline was told the criminal case against
her would go ahead and she would have to
go to court, which would mean that the
bodycam footage would probably come out.
“Then she found out her boyfriend
[Burton] had sent that picture [of the
blood-stained sheets] to his ex-girlfriend,
and it was sold to the paper,” Christine says,
repeating a claim she made at the inquest.
That night Caroline tried to take her life,
but her friends found her and called an
ambulance. She refused to go to hospital,
worried about the incident becoming public.
She could not be detained under the Mental
Health Act because she was coherent and in
her own home. The following morning, on
February 15, in the time between her friends
leaving the house and her sister arriving,
she took her own life. “Jody found her.
That’s with her for ever,” Christine says.
When Christine arrived at Caroline’s flat,
hours later, she was held back. “The police
said, ‘You can’t touch her, you can’t go near
her!’ There must be a better way of handling
that,” Christine says. “It was dreadful. Just
dreadful. I lose words for [the Met].”
At first she says there was a strange senseof relief, “that we didn’t have to worry about
the worst thing happening [Caroline taking
her own life] because it had happened”.
“Then the reality of it hits you. And then
what do you do?”
“My heart is broken,” Burton wrote
shortly after her death. “I love you with all
my heart.” He is now expecting his first
child with his girlfriend, Lottie Tomlinson,
sister of the One Direction singer Louis.
At the inquest in August 2020 the
coroner, Mary Hassell, said: “[Caroline] had
struggles in the past and, in spite of the fact
she may have led — to some — what might
have been a charmed life, actually the more
famous she got, the more some of these
difficulties increased as she had to cope with
the media in a way most of us don’t. When
things went wrong for her ... she didn’t have
any privacy. I find the reason for her taking
her life was she now knew she was going
to be prosecuted for certain, and she knew
she would face the media, the press, the
publicity — it would all come down on her.”
The question being asked today is whether
the charge should have been pursued in the
first place. Lisa Ramsarran, prosecutor for
the CPS, told the inquest she was satisfied
Burton’s head injury was “at the top end of
what you might see”. Hassell responded:
“I’m really struggling to understand how
this injury was regarded as significant.”
A picture of Burton taken after the incident
showed only a small cut.
“I don’t think she should have had special
treatment for who she was,” Christine says,
“but she shouldn’t have had worse
treatment. For something so minor [the
argument with Burton] they should have
sent her home and talked to her the next
day, but they put her in a cell and charged
her with assault.”In March 2021 the Met told Christine it
was satisfied with its response and handling
of the case, but in August she asked the
IOPC to review it. “Following a review, the
IOPC agreed with the Met that service was
acceptable in relation to seven areas of the
complaints relating to the response and
handling of the incident by the Met,” a Met
spokesperson said.
The IOPC has directed the Met to
reinvestigate two further areas of the case,
both relating to the decision to appeal the
CPS decision to caution Caroline. An update
on that reinvestigation is expected soon.
“There is nothing I can do for Carrie now,”
Christine says, “but I can still fight for her.”
Christine feels Caroline “everywhere,
everywhere!” she says, smiling. “I see
signs, signs in everything — it’s a sign!”
she says, mocking herself, laughing at the
ridiculousness of it, not quite believing
that she is a parent who has buried a child
who was known for living life so fully.
“Something funny will happen, like a bird
will poo on us when we’re having lunch
outside, and you think, ‘Ah. There she is.’
She is everywhere.” ■The Samaritans helpline is available for
free support 24 hours a day on 116 123. To
find out more about local mental health
support, contact Mind on 0300 123 3393“I don’t think she should have had special
treatment but she shouldn’t have had worse”
Above: the bench in Norfolk
where Christine goes to
remember her daughter. Right:
Caroline on Valentine’s Day
2020, hours before her deathCHANNEL 4, @MOLLIEGROZ / INSTAGRAM