Holby City star ‘stares down daughter’s rapper boyfriend in court’ 

Holby City actor John Michie today tearfully blasted his daughter’s rapper boyfriend for ‘leaving her to die’, and filming her lifeless body. 

The former Taggart and Coronation Street star, 62, stared at Ceon Broughton, 29, as he recalled the night his daughter Louella Fletcher-Michie died after overdosing on party drug 2C-P at Bestival.

Mr Michie and his wife Carol Fletcher, 68, had raced 130 miles to the festival after hearing Louella screech down the phone like a ‘wild animal’. 

By the time Mr Michie and Mrs Fletcher arrived at the site in Lulworth, Dorset, their daughter had died – just an hour before her 25th birthday. 

Today, giving evidence for the first time, Mr Michie broke down in tears as he told Winchester Crown Court how he begged security staff to let him through the gates as his daughter lay dying inside.

The jury heard how her family were eating Sunday dinner in their London home when they received a call from Broughton in which Louella could be heard.

Mr Michie said: ‘The thing that I most remember was that Louella seemed very distressed. I could hear her in the background shouting things like ‘I hate you, I don’t trust you’, obviously referring to Ceon.’

He told her alleged killer: ‘I don’t know how you can say you love someone who you left to die in front of you.’

He said he initially defended Broughton and ‘believed him to be a good person at the time.’ 

But he said he had not realised ‘how he had not taken her to get help, how he had seen her in a very, very distressed state and possibly even filmed her after she has died’.  

Mr Michie said Broughton dismissed his daughter for overreacting as she was dying. He added: ‘I’ve since learnt he described her as a drama queen, which is hurtful.’

Broughton, from Enfield, London, denies manslaughter and supplying a class A drug. 

Louella Fletcher-Michie was the daughter of former Coronation Street actor John Michie (pictured with Louella, left, and his other daughter Daisy, right)

Louella’s boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, gave her a ‘bumped up’ dose of the class A substance and ‘failed to act’ for six hours despite her needing urgent medical care, the court heard

Louella and Ceon (bottom right together) at a family dinner with, clockwise from left: Her actor father John, his wife Carol, brother Sam, sister Daisy and her boyfriend Jamie Jamieson

Mr Michie said he desperately pleaded with security staff to let him into the site to help his dying daughter and even offered them his phone which contained a pinpoint GPS location of the couple

Mr Michie posted this picture on Instagram on the one-year anniversary of his daughter’s death. He captioned it: ‘You came to us on this day and left us on this day. The most loving, most inclusive , least judgmental, kindest…. your energy will never die and neither will our love for you’

When asked about to talk about arriving at Bestival in Lulworth Castle, Dorset, after Louella’s death on September 10, 2017, Mr Michie paused to regain his composure. 

He told the court how he desperately pleaded with security staff to let him into the site to help his dying daughter and even offered them his phone which contained a pinpoint GPS location of the couple. 

Turning to stare at Broughton, Mr Michie said in court today: ‘I think Louella loved Ceon, but I’m not sure he loved her. 

Louella Fletcher-Michie was found dead after taking party drug 2CP at the Bestival site

‘I don’t know how you can say you love someone who you left to die in front of you. 

‘I was inclined to believe Ceon when I made my statement the day after. 

‘I believed him to be a good person at the time. 

‘If I was in Ceon’s situation I would have taken another human being – let alone my girlfriend who I was supposed to love – to a medical tent to save their life. 

‘You would have done anything possible to save the life of another human being, being in the distressed state she was in.’ 

He said ‘I believed him to be a good person at the time’ and said he initially defended Broughton. 

Mr Michie told jurors: ‘But what I didn’t realise was how in the six hours he was with her he had not taken her to get help, and how he had seen the very, very distressed state she was in and how I believe he has even filmed her after she died. 

‘Clearly, I made a mistake.’  

His wife also sobbed as she told jurors she ‘couldn’t believe’ it was her daughter screeching down the phone when she spoke to Broughton from their north London home that day. 

Mrs Fletcher told Winchester Crown Court: ‘We cooked a Sunday roast dinner and all the family were there, Sam and Daisy. Daisy had my phone and suddenly Ceon phoned. 

Mr Michie, who has starred in Coronation Street, Taggart and Holby City, today gave evidence at Winchester Crown Court. He is pictured here with his daughter Louella on the beach in Spain ‘after yet another ankle sprain’, in August 2017, just days before she died 

Mr Michie posted this picture of himself with Louella as a baby on social media one month after she died 

‘I only spoke to Ceon, Louella was like a wild animal in the background. I couldn’t believe that was her and that was the last time I heard her voice. 

‘I said to him ‘is that Louella?’ and he said, ‘she will be fine, don’t worry’ and I said ‘let me speak to her, let me speak to her’. 

‘I kept talking but he said ‘don’t worry, don’t worry, I will look after her’. 

‘I’ve never heard her before like that, I’ve never heard anyone before like that, that’s why we got in the car and drove down – because of her voice. 

‘How can someone be next to her and not get help? I don’t know. ‘Daisy said ‘tell her to be quiet she’s going to blow her brains out’, I only had the ear to my phone but it was so loud. 

‘I could hear Louella saying ‘give me my phone’ and, ‘I don’t trust you, I hate you’. 

‘She loved Ceon but in this moment, under the influence, this was what she was saying. 

‘I told him to get help and that’s what I assumed he would do. I asked what they had taken and he said ‘we can see things other people can’t see’. 

‘I thought he was a lot more experienced with drug taking and maybe he knows she would be OK.’ 

The seemingly inseparable father and daughter often posted pictures of themselves larking around together on social media 

Mr Michie posted this picture in April 2014 with the caption, ‘Marathon training with my daughter’

Louella’s father John Michie told the court today: ‘I think Louella loved Ceon, but I’m not sure he loved her. I don’t know how you can say love someone who you left to die in front of you’

Louella’s sister Daisy Fletcher-Michie and her brother Sam Fletcher-Michie also told the court how they had ‘begged’ Broughton on the phone to take Louella to a medical tent.

Sam, who admitted taking drugs with Louella before, said he could not remember if he had asked Broughton whether his sister had taken 2-CP or 2-CB, but Broughton had replied: ‘Yes, but I bumped it up a bit’.

He said this could have meant a ‘bigger dose’ or ‘maybe something else alongside’ the drug.

Louella could be seen shouting loudly, repeating incoherent sentences and even hitting herself in a series of clips

A tearful Daisy said she ‘so wanted to believe that Ceon had done everything he could’ to help her sister, but claimed he ‘did nothing to help her and put himself first’.

She added: ‘If that was me and my boyfriend there is no way he wouldn’t have saved me.’

She said: ‘I could hear my sister shouting in the background saying ‘I don’t trust you, I don’t trust anyone, get away from me’ and I just burst into tears. 

‘I asked mum if I could take the phone and go and speak to Ceon. Louella was scared and petrified and didn’t know what was going on. 

‘I wanted to know what she had taken and Ceon told me ‘I didn’t want to tell your mum but it was 2C-P’ and I said ‘where are you? Can you get to a medical tent?’ 

‘He was talking really calm and there was no urgency and said ‘we’re in the woods’. 

‘I was worried about her and told him ‘please promise me you will take her to the medical tent’ and I remember she sounded crazy. 

Louella’s sister Daisy Fletcher-Michie and her brother Sam Fletcher-Michie also told the court how they had ‘begged’ Broughton on the phone to take Louella to a medical tent. Pictured from left: Daisy, Louella, Sam and their mother Carol

‘I don’t think he was getting the severity of the situation, I was freaking out. 

‘I so wanted to believe that Ceon tried everything he could… That was not the case, now I’ve heard the truth, he did nothing to help her and he put himself first. 

‘There’s no way in six hours you can believe he’s tried to get her to the medical tent. ‘If that was me and my boyfriend there’s no way he would not have got me help. 

‘I heard her shouting but I’m sure that a 28-year-old man could have overpowered her and carried her [to the medical tent]. 

‘When my parents left and we sat down to eat I burst into tears. I didn’t think she was just having a bad trip, I thought that she might die. 

‘I didn’t really trust the fact she was in the middle of a forest. I think she loved Ceon but I don’t think he loved her. There’s no way I can see that he loved her.’ 

Mr Michie said his daughter Louella loved Broughton (pictured together) – but it cannot have been reciprocated as he left her to die 

Mr Michie said Broughton didn’t sound ‘compos mentis’ on the phone. 

He said: ‘The thing I most remember was Louella was very distressed, I could hear her in the background shouting things like ‘I hate you’ and ‘I don’t trust you’ in reference to Ceon. 

The jury have been shown distressing footage of Louella as she overdosed

‘We wanted him to take her to get help.’ 

He added: ‘I can’t remember much from what Ceon said but I remember the tone of his voice, it was watery and distant and without energy. 

‘I felt that I needed to get down there and help my daughter. His voice was slow and he didn’t seem to be concerned and any normal person would be. 

‘The phone call went on for a long time but we didn’t get any information except I could hear my daughter in the background in a very distressed state. 

‘I resisted taking the phone and speaking to him, I didn’t want him to be intimidated by speaking to the daughter’s dad and him do the wrong thing. He was not very compos mentis at the time. 

‘I’ve since learnt he described her as a drama queen, which is hurtful.’ 

Mrs Fletcher added: ‘The decision was made to go to Dorset as soon as I put the phone down – that voice was enough to make anyone get in their car. 

‘We just left the Sunday dinner and John just said ‘let’s go’ so we got in the car. I thought we would just pick her up and bring her home to look after her.’ 

Mrs Fletcher sobbed in the dock as she recalled the night her daughter died. She said she had an ‘open relationship’ with her daughter and spoke about drugs. 

She said: ‘I’m sure there are things she didn’t tell me but we had an open relationship, I told her about drugs and to be careful and if loads of people are doing it around you it does not mean it’s normal, and that you don’t have to do it. 

‘She was quite cautious and measured in that way and that’s what her friends have all told me. She did it and took things at festivals but she didn’t go out every weekend doing drugs.’ 

The court has heard Broughton gave Louella a ‘bumped up’ dose of 2C-P and even filmed her after she died. 

The on-off couple, pictured here in 2016. The court has heard Broughton gave Louella a ‘bumped up’ dose of 2C-P and even filmed her after she died

A court today heard Louella’s ex-boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, pictured with Louella above,  gave her a ‘bumped up’ dose of the class A substance and ‘failed to act’ for six hours

The rapper filmed himself with a fidget spinner on the same day as he filmed his girlfriend

The hospital area on the festival grounds in Lulworth Castle, Dorset, was a mere 400 metres away but Broughton made no attempt to take her there for medical assistance. 

Prosecutor William Mousley, QC, said Louella would have had a 90 per cent chance of survival if Broughton sought medical help in the six hours they spent in the woods. 

Instead, Mr Mousley QC says, Broughton didn’t seek help because he ‘didn’t want to be arrested’ as he was serving a suspended sentence and would likely be jailed. 

Yesterday jurors were shown harrowing footage of Louella hallucinating wildly, ending with her lifeless body lying on the ground. 

One 51 minute and eight second video, recorded by Broughton on his iPhone from 5.53pm, shows Louella ‘tripping’ and calling ‘Mum’ around a staggering 80 times. 

‘Live’ iPhone images taken by Broughton at 11.25pm showed lifeless Louella on her back with bloodied hands. 

The hospital area of Bestival in Lulworth Castle, Dorset, was just 400 metres from the wooded spot where Louella died (circled)

Mrs Fletcher said Louella was a ‘fit and healthy’ ‘voga’ teacher – a mix of dance and yoga. 

She said her daughter ‘loved and trusted’ Broughton and said he spent Christmas with them in 2016 but suddenly broke off the relationship soon after, leaving Louella ‘devastated’. 

The couple got back together just weeks before Bestival. She said Louella had a ‘good sense to do the right thing’ but ‘didn’t’ at Bestival. 

The trial continues.