Former Love Island host Caroline Flack has been prohibited from meeting her lover, Lewis Burton, after she allegedly hit him on the head with a lamp following their rift at her £1.1 million flat in Islington, north London, home.
The fight started soon after Flack thought Burton, a tennis player turned coach, was cheating on her after she saw some text messages from a 60-year-old woman on his phone. The 6ft 4in tall tennis player, made his relationship official with Flack on his Instagram account in August 2019.
It was a 5.25 am emergency call placed by an injured Burton that made police rush to Flack's apartment and arrest her. Burton told the 999-operator, "She tried to kill me mate."
Flack appeared in the court of Highbury Corner Magistrates Court where she pleaded not guilty to physically assaulting Burton on the morning of December 12.
Burton takes a U-turn on his physical assault
Interrupting the proceedings as charges were being read to Flack, her lawyer Paul Morris told district Judge, Julia Newton, that Burton was not a victim, but a witness.
"Burton had issued a statement through solicitors asking for the case against Flack to be dropped adding that he never supported the prosecution," the lawyer told the court. Flack pleaded 'not guilty' to the charges when they were read to her for the second time.
In response, prosecutor Katie Weiss said Burton was a victim and he sustained significant injuries to his head. "In the 999 call the complainant said quite clearly that his girlfriend was beating him up. He asked repeatedly for help. He was almost begging the operator to send help. He said: 'She is going mad, breaking stuff. I've just woken up. She's cracked my head open. The defendant is calling him an a***hole saying 'It's all your fault, you've ruined my life', calling him an a***hole repeatedly.' He said 'you've cracked my head open'. He told the operator 'she tried to kill me mate'." .
Burton, who had earlier stated that Flack was a victim of 'witch hunt', was present in the court room during the proceedings.
District Judge gave conditional bail to Flack, thus banning her from meeting Burton till the trial in the alleged assault case begins on March 4, 2020.
A twist in the tale?
Soon after the court ruling, Burton, who has stood by Flack ever since she was arrested for allegedly assaulting him, took to Instagram expressing his sadness over separation from his lover.
He posted their photograph taken on Flack's 40th birthday and wrote: "It's heartbreaking I can't see my girlfriend over Christmas.What I witnessed today was horrible. She did not hit me with a lamp. Arguments do happen every day in every relationship. Gutted I am not allowed to protect her right now." Hours before her appearance in the courtroom, both Flack and Burton unfollowed each other on Instagram.
Witnesses who were present at the scene when Burton was being rescued by the police reportedly heard him shouting, "I was normal till I met her."
