Conviction over death of Taggart star's daughter overturned

A man who jailed for manslaughter over the death of Taggart star John Michie’s daughter has had the conviction overturned.

Ceon Broughton was arrested after his girlfriend, Louella Fletcher-Michie, died in 2017 after taking hallucinogenic drug 2C-P at Bestival music festival in Dorset .

She was 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, a 31-year-old rapper from 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 Burnett – at the court of appeal on Tuesday.

Giving the court’s ruling, Lord Burnett said the expert evidence on the likelihood of Ms 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respectful disagreement with the judge, we conclude that the appellant’s main argument, that the case should have been withdrawn from the jury, is established.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 Ms 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.