Taggart actor says daughter was ‘left to die’ at Bestival, as dealer boyfriend found guilty of her manslaughter

Ceon Broughton left Louella Fletcher-Michie to die in front of him rather than get the medical help she needed, according to her father.

And when he was questioned about his girlfriend's death by police he tried to shift the blame onto her parents.

Holby City actor John Michie and his wife dashed to the Bestival site from London when they heard their daughter “screeching'' on the phone after she had taken the class A hallucinogenic drug 2-CP.

Broughton, who gave her the lethal “bumped up'' dose, insisted she was fine and said she was just being a “drama queen''.

But her desperate parents knew their daughter needed urgent help.

Her mother Carol told the court: “I couldn't believe that was her voice and that's the last time I heard her voice.''

Her father, who has also starred in Coronation Street and Taggart, said: “I think Louella loved Ceon. I'm not sure he loved her.

“I don't know how you could ever say you loved someone if you left them to die in front of you.''

A clue to Broughton's motivation in failing to act emerged during the trial.

The convicted drug dealer told a friend he feared he would be “bagged'' by police and even tried to stop her family rushing to the festival.

Instead, he filmed her deadly “trip'' near the music festival site in the grounds of Lulworth Castle in Dorset on September 10, 2017.

Broughton also apparently took a photograph of Miss Fletcher-Michie, a yoga and dance teacher, after she died - an hour before her 25th birthday.

When questioned by police later, he tried to shift the blame for his failure to act.

He said she had been “fine at first'' but then “kind of spiralled and it like it worried me then''.

He told police: “I called her mum and then she told me to go and get to someone in high vis and that was like a few hours later.

“That was a few hours later because I was trying to calm her down.

“She was like wriggling around in the stinging nettles and stuff, that's why she has cuts and stuff on her hands.''

He continued: “Her mum and dad said they were on their way as well, go back to, go back to high vis and see the same guy again.

“I wanted to just carry her. I would have carried her myself but yeah they told me to go get someone with a high vis.

“But yeah I would have carried her myself down to the medical tent.

“Yeah they didn't really help at all like, didn't even help at all.''

Simon Jones, senior Crown Prosecution Service advocate, said Broughton failed to help the 24-year-old to avoid being found in breach of a suspended prison sentence he had been given a month earlier.

The prosecution case was that Broughton had supplied Miss Fletcher-Michie with the so-called party drug 2-CP which led to her falling seriously ill and dying.

Mr Jones 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.

“They were off-site in a wooded area, he was 80 metres back into the festival, there was an on-site hospital that was 400 metres away, he was with her for a considerable period of time and he did nothing.

“It is fair to say that there were some things he did, but he did not do enough and he failed to take proper care of her.

“The behaviour had to be grossly negligent so as to be criminal and our case was the behaviour was exceptionally bad.

“There were two features of that: Firstly, the recording of Louella in such a distressed state when it was clear he should have been acting when he was filming her.

“Secondly, a big part of the prosecution case as to his reason for inaction was that he had a suspended sentence of imprisonment hanging over him, and he knew the consequence of what he had done, namely supplying, giving, Louella that drug, and so our case was he put his own needs over the obvious need of helping Louella.

“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.

“This was clear that this was giving rise to a serious and obvious risk of death and that was the prosecution case.''

Mr Jones said Broughton's lies and failure to give evidence meant the full reason for his inaction would remain unknown.

He said: “Only Ceon Broughton knows that. He was interviewed by police on a number of occasions, the position he ended up with was actually not answering the police questions.

“We showed that he lied in that interview. He was arrested on that night and he lied about important issues in the case, in particular on the question of drugs, so those lies were part of the prosecution case against him.

“The supply allegation was key to the whole case and it's the prosecution case that Louella was given the drug by Ceon Broughton so he supplied it to her, he gave her that drug.

“It doesn't matter that no money was given, you don't have to supply a drug for money. He gave her that drug of 2-CP on a social supply basis.

“Having given her that 2-CP class A drug, he created a state of affairs that became life-threatening.''

Mr Jones said he had “utmost respect'' for Miss Fletcher-Michie's family.

He said Holby City actor John Michie and his wife Carol - a former Hot Gossip singer - and their two other children, Daisy and Sam, had heard “incredibly hard'' evidence.

He said: “They have been witnesses in the case, Louella's brother and sister too.

“After their evidence was given, they have been in court, they have seen and heard other evidence given in the case, they have acted with complete dignity. It must have been incredibly hard for them to see this evidence in court and I have the utmost respect for them."