Louella Michie court case: Friend told boyfriend 'fam, just act like you don't know her' as woman was dying of drug overdose at Bestival
Emotional day in court ends after family recount hearing news of daughter's death
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The family of a woman who was filmed as she died from a drug overdose at a music festival have given evidence at the trial of the man accused of her manslaugher.
Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24, daughter of Holby City actor John Michie, died after taking the Class A party drug 2-CP at the Dorset music festival Bestival on 11 September 2017.
Ceon Broughton, 29, from Enfield in north London, denies the charge and another of supplying the drug to Fletcher-Michie.
Ms Fletcher-Michie's mother Carol was among those giving evidence at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday.
In a 50-minute video shown to the court on Wednesday, Fletcher-Michie was seen shouting: “This is the best trip I have ever f***ing had.”
Mr Broughton ignored subsequent pleas from her family to seek help and continued to film even after she was dead, jurors at Winchester Crown Court heard.
Jurors were told Fletcher-Michie’s mother eventually contacted Mr Broughton at 6.48pm and heard her daughter “screeching” in the background.
She “dropped everything” and travelled with Mr Michie to the festival site at Lulworth Castle, the court heard.
Fletcher-Michie was found dead by security at around 1am on 11 September 2017 after Mr Broughton left her to seek help, the court was told.
Read below for the developments as they unfolded.
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Mr Michie tells the court: "Louella loved Ceon. I don't think he loved her.
"I don't know how you could ever say you loved someone if you have let them die in front of you."
Mr Michie said that after tabloid newspapers said Broughton had been arrested for murder, he felt compelled to put out a statement countering this.
He said: "I felt we had to put out a statement saying this is not true. I was inclined to think better of Ceon. I believed him to be a good person, at that time.
"However, I didn't realise [then] in the six hours, he hadn't taken her to get help, and, I believe, he filmed her after she died.
"So clearly, I made a mistake."
Mr Michie said things had seemed much more innocent when Broughton had stayed at his house over the Christmas before his daughter's death.
He told the court: "It was quite beautiful to see them together."
But reflecting on Broughton's actions on the night of her death, he said: "If I was in Ceon's situation, with another human being, let alone a girlfriend he was supposed to love, I would have taken her to the medical tent to save her life.
"You would do everything possible to save the life of a human being in that state."
The trial has resumed. Louella's older sister Daisy Fletcher-Michie has entered the witness box
She is struggling to take the evidential oath, having to wipe away tears. The judge tells her to take her time.
She is going to be asked about the phone call, and a private conversation with Broughton. She was at her parent's home when her mother spoke to Broughton, with the phone on speaker.
Daisy tells the court that hearing her sister shouting in the background, "sounded so scary. I just felt petrified."
Daisy says she took the phone up to her bedroom to talk to Broughton away from the rest of her family.
Daisy said that Broughton told her, "I didn't want to tell your mum" but Louella had taken drugs.
She said she heard the drug as 2C-P or 2C-B, "I had never heard of the drug before so I had no idea what it was."
She told the court Broughton seemed unable to grasp the gravity of the situation:
"He was talking really calm, really slow. [There was] no urgency."
Daisy added: "I couldn't really get much from him [Broughton] about where they were. Just 'woods' was all I could get out of him.
"I was freaking out, speaking and crying: 'Please promise me you will get her to the medical centre. She doesn't sound OK to me.'
"I didn't get any sense of urgency [from him]. I didn't feel like he was getting the severity of the situation."