Only 10 per cent of the 750,000 reports of domestic abuse in Britain last year ended in prosecution, a former chief prosecutor has said.

Nazir Afzal spoke out amid criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service for continuing with an assault case against the late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack.

The former CPS prosecutor in the North West said there were 750,000 reports of domestic violence last year to police, but only 75,000 were prosecuted.

Nazir Afzal (pictured in 2013) spoke out amid criticism of the Crown Prosecution Service

Mr Afzal added that just 75 per cent of those were convicted, and more than 120 domestic homicides were prosecuted without any victim evidence.

Miss Flack, who was described as 'vulnerable' by her management, had pleaded not guilty to assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton at her former flat in December.

Speaking about the case, Mr Afzal told BBC Breakfast: 'They just follow the evidence. In this case yes the complainant withdrew his support for the prosecution but undoubtedly they felt they had enough, they had I think a 999 call recording, they had body cameras worn by the police, they would have had medical evidence, they would have had other evidence.

'They have to take domestic abuse seriously because we as a country have decided we need to take domestic abuse seriously.'

It comes as lawyers said prosecutors may have pressed ahead with assault charges against Miss Flack due to high public concern around domestic violence.

Questions have been raised over whether the case should have proceeded amid concerns over the 40-year-old's mental health.

Pictured: Lewis Burton with Caroline Flack, who was facing charges of alleged assault

A prosecutor will decide firstly whether there is enough evidence to pursue a case, and secondly whether it would be in the public interest to do so.

Why did the CPS pursue the assault charges when the alleged victim - her boyfriend - wanted them dropped? The Crown Prosecution Service is under obligation to investigate all domestic violence incidents if they believe they are in the public interest. For years there has been growing concern that too few domestic violence cases end in prosecution. Many involve women who have been attacked by their husbands who later withdraw their original accusations under duress or because they are simply living in fear. To try and address this, the CPS introduced reforms in 2014 aimed at greatly increasing prosecution rates. They issued guidance to police urging them to gather multiple sources of evidence rather than just relying on the victim's statement - which may be unreliable or change. One of the most important sources of evidence in domestic abuse cases is likely to be the original 999 call made by the victim shortly after the attack. Other evidence could include witness statements from neighbours, medical examinations or images from the scene captured on police bodycams or CCTV. Miss Flack was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over the alleged assault on her boyfriend Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Advertisement

Former director of public prosecutions Lord Ken Macdonald said there would generally be 'a strong presumption' that bringing charges in any domestic violence case would be in the public interest.

He said: 'There is a high public interest presumption in favour of prosecution in domestic violence cases because domestic violence is such a common crime and it's a dangerous crime.

'We have about 170 or 180 people every year, mainly women, who are killed during domestic violence incidents. There is a huge amount of public concern about these offences.

'Generally, there would be a strong public interest presumption in favour of prosecuting a domestic violence case where there is enough evidence to do so.'

Police and lawyers are encouraged to pursue charges even where the alleged victim has withdrawn their support.

Lord Macdonald said: 'One of the major problems there is in bringing these cases is that victims often withdraw their complaint and very often that's because they're being bullied or threatened or manipulated by the person who has attacked them in the first place.

'So the principle has grown up that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) try and bring prosecutions even if the case isn't supported by the victim and indeed they are urged to do that.

'Most of the pressure groups around domestic violence are very voluble in saying the CPS should be building cases that don't rely just on victim testimony.'

Last month a joint report by the CPS and police inspectorates found that investigators and lawyers should boost efforts to pursue domestic cases where the alleged victim withdraws support.

Concerns have also been raised over the level of support given to vulnerable defendants facing charges.

Lord Macdonald said: 'The prosecutors could in theory have said 'we won't prosecute this case because she is too fragile', but that's quite rare to drop the case for that reason.

Caroline Flack was tormented over jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage Caroline Flack was said to have been tormented over the idea of a jury being shown police 'bodycam' footage taken during the night she was accused of attacking her boyfriend. The distraught TV presenter was understood to be horrified by the prospect of a 'show trial' over an alleged assault on Lewis Burton and was worried she could not cope with the fallout. Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in North London had heard in December that police found the pair at her flat in Islington covered in blood and that Miss Flack had cuts to her wrist. Miss Flack had hoped the trial would not go ahead. Friends said she was left feeling isolated and scared and was prescribed anti-depressants. One said: 'Her biggest fear was that the bodycam footage would be made public. She realised that it was going to be shown in court if it came to court. 'She felt that from that moment her life would be ruined forever. I hear that the footage is quite distressing.' Advertisement

'Normally the prosecutor would say 'well we'll go through the court process and the court can take into account her mental health when it's passing sentence'.'

He added: 'There is a huge, hidden problem of mental health issues in criminal justice.

'Quite a significant proportion of people who are prosecuted have addiction problems or they have mental health problems or they have emotional problems of one sort or another and the truth is there's little or no support offered to them.

'To start offering support at that stage of proceedings would be very expensive and we have to really create a whole new form of social service to do that.'

Mr Burton did not want to press charges against Miss Flack, and following her death a member of her management team hit out at the CPS saying they should 'look at themselves and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest'.

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain with Richard Madeley and Ranvir Singh today to discuss how the CPS decide to pursue cases against alleged criminals - and why they might do so even against the 'victim's' wishes.

Ms Singh said that in cases of alleged domestic violence, historically, victims may have refused to support prosecutions for many reasons, and Mr Rozenberg said: 'That's absolutely right. Take the classic example of a man accused of assaulting a woman - maybe a sexual assault.

Caroline Flack is pictured above leaving Highbury Magistrates' Court on 23 December 2019

'They live together and the woman has second thoughts and she says I want to withdraw the charges... or is coerced as you might well imagine could happen in other circumstances.

'Should the CPS say 'oh well don't need to worry about it any more because she has been persuaded to drop the charges?' It's not up to her. It's up to the state to decide.'

Mr Rozenberg said that the Crown Prosecution Service will ask themselves whether there was enough evidence for a reasonable chance of conviction and if a prosecution was in the public interest.

'It's never going to be in the public interest for somebody to be hounded to their death,' he said. 'I'm sure that the CPS is sympathetic as we all are this morning about this tragedy, but if you could simply say to the CPS I am vulnerable, I am likely to take my own life, well, a lot of people would say that and it wouldn't be true.

'It's very difficult for the CPS to judge, we don't know what evidence Caroline Flack's lawyers gave to the CPS about her state of mind.'

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor for the North West, posted a series of tweets hitting out at online trolls and explaining why the CPS decides to prosecute cases of domestic abuse, even when the complaint has been withdrawn.

He added that the CPS will consider the welfare of a person who has been accused of a crime, using the example of someone who is terminally ill.

Mr Rozenberg added that prosecutions can be dropped if they're not in the public interest.

Richard Madeley asked Mr Rozenberg if he knew of a prosecution being dropped because somebody said they might take their own life, and he responded: 'Simply saying that would not lead to the dropping of a prosecution because it would be too easy.

'Producing medical evidence that you'd tried suicide on several occasions in the past, that you were mentally ill, that you'd been taken to hospital, or whatever it may be, is certainly something that may lead to a postponement of a prosecution and perhaps even in extreme circumstances, it being dropped.'

It comes after a former chief prosecutor defended the CPS over pursuing charges against Flack and hit out at social media trolls.

Flack's management criticised the CPS in a statement.

Francis Ridley, of Money Talent Management, said: 'We are devastated at the loss of our client and friend Caroline Flack.

'The Crown Prosecution Service pursued this when they knew not only how very vulnerable Caroline was but also that the alleged victim did not support the prosecution and had disputed the CPS version of events.

'The CPS should look at themselves today and how they pursued a show trial that was not only without merit but not in the public interest.

'And ultimately resulted in significant distress to Caroline. Our thoughts are with Caroline's family at this time.

'An immensely talented young woman who was at the top of her game professionally and loved by television viewers across the country. In recent months Caroline had been under huge pressure because of an ongoing case and potential trial which has been well reported.'

The CPS told MailOnline in a statement: 'Our deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of Caroline Flack.

'Given the tragic circumstances, we will not comment on the specifics of this case at this stage.'