Appeal over festival death of Michie’s daughter
● Defence for boyfriend asks whether overdose was ‘survivable’
A rapper jailed for the manslaughter of the daughter of a Holby City actor has begun an appeal.
Louella Fletcher-michie, daughter of actor John Michie, died after taking the hallucinogenic drug 2-CP at the Bestival music festival, at Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in September 2017.
She was found dead in the early hours of 11 September, the day on which she should have celebrated her 25th birthday, in a wooded area on the edge of the festival site.
Her boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, 31, of Enfield, north London, was handed an eight-and-a-half-year sentence, in March 2019, following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.
Three appeal judges are considering the case at a virtual Court of Appeal hearing.
Jurors found Broughton guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. Broughton was also found guilty of supplying Miss Fletcher-michie with 2-CP, at the festival.
He had previously admitted supplying drugs to Miss
Fletcher-michie at the Glastonbury festival, in June 2017, and was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for possessing a lock knife and a Stanley knife blade.
Prosecutors said Broughton had failed to take “reasonable” steps to seek medical help for Miss Fletcher-michie.
They said Broughton did not get help because he had been handed a suspended jail term a month earlier and feared the consequences. But Stephen Kamlish QC, who leads Broughton’s defence team, questioned on Wednesday whether jurors could have been sure that Miss Fletcher-michie would have lived had she received appropriate treatment.
He said Broughton had felt unable to leave Miss Fletchermichie alone, in woods, while she was suffering a “bad trip”, and he had not realised she was at risk of death.
Broughton had sought help through text messages and sending a GPS position through the mobile phone app Google Maps, he said.
Mr Kamlish QC read a statement to the court from Broughton, during the sentencing hearing, which read: “Sorry I didn’t do more to save Louella, sorry for the suffering I caused to everyone who loved Louella, I want to make things right.”
He told appeal judges that Miss Fletcher-michie might have taken an “overdose” which “from the outset” was “not repairable, not survivable”.
Mr Kamlish said jurors had to be sure that any “breach of duty” by Broughton was a “substantial” cause of death. He said, “evidentially” there werea“numberofunknowns”.
The hearing continues.