A rapper who left Holby City star John Michie’s daughter to die has had his manslaughter conviction quashed following an appeal.
Ceon Broughton, 31, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence for failing to help Louella Fletcher-Michie as she overdosed on illegal party drug 2C-P at Bestival in 2017.
He was found to have filmed his girlfriend as she pleaded for help shortly before her death in woodland close to the festival site.
Following his conviction in February, Broughton, from Enfield, was sentenced to eight and a half years behind bars.
He was given leave to appeal back in March and three judges heard his case via a virtual Court of Appeal hearing.
At the High Court today, Lord Burnett quashed the conviction saying: “In our view, this is one of those rare cases where the expert evidence was all that the jury had to assist them in answering the question on causation.
“That expert evidence was not capable of establishing causation to the criminal standard.
“Miss Darlow’s final submission that at 21.10 Louella was deprived of a 90% chance of survival was an accurate reflection of Professor Deakin’s evidence but, for the reasons we have explained, that is not enough.
“Put another way, if an operation carried a personal 10% risk of mortality, both patient and clinicians would be able confidently to say that the chances of survival were very high or very good but none could be sure.
“In respectful disagreement with the judge, we conclude that the appellant’s mainargument, that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury, is established.
“Applying the Galbraith test, 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.”
Professor Charles Deakin was among the witnesses who testified during the trial, and addressed the issue of whether medical intervention could have helped while other experts focused on the cause of death.
The appeal was heard before The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales Lord Burnett, Mr Justice Sweeney and Mr Justice Murray.
In a statement released by his lawyers after the ruling, Broughton said he remains “devastated” by the death of his girlfriend and wishes he could have done more to save her.
A statement issued by Birnberg Peirce Solicitors read: “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.”
Broughton was convicted by the jury of manslaughter and supplying class A drugs.
His conviction for manslaughter was quashed, but he did not appeal his conviction for supplying class A drugs as well as two other drugs charges he previously admitted.
In a statement given for his sentencing earlier this year, Broughton wrote: “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.”
Louella was found dead in woodland close to the festival site in Dorset on September 11 2017, which would have been her 25th birthday.
Prosecutors claimed Broughton failed to get help for his girlfriend even though there was a medical tent just 500 metres away.
His defence claimed the aspiring musician was worried about getting in trouble because he had previously been handed a suspended jail term for an unrelated offence.
During the trial, Simon Jones, senior Crown Prosecution Service advocate said: “He was with her for five to six hours alone.
“During that period of time he filmed her on his mobile phone so the deterioration in Louella was clear from a number of sources of mobile phone footage.
“It was quite clear she desperately needed medical attention and he failed in the duty of care that he had for Louella, he failed to get her medical attention at that festival.
“We saw in the video footage there were occasions he was laughing, he was playing with a fidget spinner, and in the background the person he should have been caring for, the person he gave the drug to, was rapidly deteriorating.”
Former Coronation Street and Holby City actor John Michie, 62, and his wife Carol, 68, made a desperate 130-mile dash to the festival on September 10 in a bid to save their daughter after receiving a distressed phone call from her.
However, they were too late to save her.