A musician has been cleared at appeal of killing his girlfriend with a powerful hallucinogen at a festival.
The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Ceon Broughton, 31, of Enfield in north London, who had been convicted following the death of Louella Fletcher-Michie at Bestival in Dorset.
Miss Fletcher-Michie who is the daughter of Holby City and Coronation Street actor John Michie was found dead at the festival in Lulworth Castle on September 11, 2017 – the day she should have celebrated her 25th birthday.
She had taken the hallucinogenic drug 2C-P and in March last year Broughton was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.
The rapper appealed the conviction and today (August 18), three leading judges including the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett overturned the 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”.
“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respectful disagreement with the judge, we conclude that the appellant’s main argument, that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury, is established,” he said.
“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.”
He also set out how Broughton had made attempts to get help, including telling a friend to “get the medics”, after realising his girlfriend was unwell.
