Caroline Flack was "right" to be prosecuted, after it was claimed she was facing a "show trial" before her death.
The ‘Love Island’ television presenter tragically took her own life earlier this year, after finding out the Crown Prosecution Service was going to pursue a trial, which saw her charged with assault by beating following an alleged fight at her home in December with Lewis Burton, which she plead not guilty to.
And now Ed Beltrami, Chief Prosecutor of London North, has defended his decision to continue to prosecute Caroline.
He said: "You’ve got to do what you think is right. You cannot do what you think is popular … You don’t just fold at the first sign of trouble. The fact the victim doesn’t want to know … you’ve got to look at whether you can prosecute without the support of the victim. Domestic abuse is a separate category by itself – [with a] high risk of the offending escalating. The guy phoned the police, he was terrified he was going to be killed. He’s been hit over the head with a lamp, he’s got a cut to his head, and she’s made an admission to the police at the scene. n the principles of domestic abuse you say, ‘I’m going to proceed without the victim because I’ve got the admission, I’ve got the complaint from the victim which I’ll try to get in, I’ve got the evidence of the cut to the head and the mess in the flat which has been filmed by the police.’"
And Beltrami insists he had no idea Caroline would decide to tragically take her own life.
He added to Wales on Sunday: "But obviously when you make that decision to proceed with the case you have absolutely no idea the defendant is going to take her own life. You can’t possibly anticipate that sort of thing."