Rapper’s manslaughter conviction over actor’s daughter’s Bestival drug death overturned

Rapper Ceon Broughton’s conviction for the manslaughter of his girlfriend Louella Fletcher-Michie, who died after taking hallucinogenic drug 2C-P at Bestival, has been overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Miss Fletcher-Michie, daughter of Holby City and Coronation Street actor John Michie, died after taking the Class A drug during the music festival at Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in September 2017.

She was found dead in the early hours of September 11, the day she should have celebrated her 25th birthday, in a wooded area at the edge of the festival site.

Broughton, 31, of Enfield, north London, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and handed an eight-and-a-half-year sentence in March 2019, following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

But his conviction was overturned by three leading judges – including the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett – on Tuesday.

Giving the court’s ruling, Lord Burnett said the expert evidence on the likelihood of Miss Fletcher-Michie’s chances of survival had she received treatment sooner was “not capable of establishing causation to the criminal standard”.

He added: “In respectful disagreement with the judge, we conclude that the appellant’s main argument, that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury, is established.

“Taken at its highest, the evidence adduced by the prosecution was incapable of proving causation to the criminal standard of proof.

“The appeal against conviction for manslaughter must be allowed.”

Seven years of Broughton’s sentence was for the manslaughter conviction, and the Court of Appeal has not ordered a retrial.

Broughton was also found guilty of supplying Miss Fletcher-Michie with 2-CP at the festival, and that conviction stands.

He previously admitted supplying drugs to Miss Fletcher-Michie at 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.

After the hearing Broughtpn’s lawyers said he remains “devastated” by Louella’s death.

In a statement, they said: “The Court of Appeal has today found that Louella’s death occurred not as a result of criminal negligence but was instead a tragic accident.

“Ceon remains devastated by her death.

“He has always wished that he could have done more to save her.

“He loved Louella and she him, but he knows that no words will ever be sufficient to convey his sense of responsibility for what happened or to begin to remove the pain that others have been caused.”

A representative for Mr Michie declined to comment.