\With long, blonde hair flowing from beneath a headscarf and shades shielding her eyes from the late summer sun, Louella Fletcher-Michie looked like any other young festival-goer eagerly anticipating the evening ahead.
Acclaimed pop and rap stars, the 'world's biggest bouncy castle' and a cocktail bus were among the many attractions on offer at Bestival, being held for the first time at Lulworth Castle, on Dorset's idyllic Jurassic Coast.
Illicit drugs, perhaps inevitably, were available too, if you knew who to ask.
But Louella's parents — the actor John Michie, who plays neurosurgeon Guy Self in
BBC hospital drama Holby City, and his partner, former Hot Gossip dancer Carol Fletcher — weren't unduly concerned.
Their bubbly, but sensible, yoga-instructor daughter might have experimented on occasion, but she had what they described as a 'cautious' and 'measured' attitude towards illegal substances.
Besides, Louella was with her boyfriend, aspiring musician Ceon Broughton, whom John and Carol had welcomed into their family over the course of his 15-month on-off relationship with Louella.
Broughton had spent Christmas at the Michies' £1.2 million home in North London, worked with Louella's brother Sam and had been a guest at John's 60th birthday dinner. There was no reason to believe he didn't have their daughter's best interests at heart.
And when the unthinkable happened, and Louella died after taking the newly available drug 2C-P at Bestival that evening in September 2017, John and Carol were quick to defend him, despite their grief and rumours that Broughton — who had a previous conviction for supplying drugs — may be implicated in her death.
A heartbroken John, 62, even issued a statement saying he believed there to be no 'malice' involved, adding it was 'just a tragic accident'.
Actor John Michie with daughter Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24 (left), who died after taking party drug 2C-P
John Michie and his daughter Louella as a child. She died at Bestival in 2017 after taking drugs given to her by her boyfriend
How sickening his words must sound now; how utterly misplaced his trust in Broughton, 30, who was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter and supplying class A drugs.
For, as we can reveal here, Louella wasn't the first woman to fall victim to Broughton's odious obsession with drugs and death.
The court heard he was a sadistic drug-dealer who took 'callous pleasure' in giving women large doses of illegal substances before filming the humiliating results.
It was said he had a 'morbid' obsession with images of death, hoarding at least a dozen photographs of corpses and videos of people dying, including from knife violence, on his phone, it can be reported for the first time yesterday.
He even told one ex-girlfriend, a Swedish student named Paulina Aberg, that he dreamt of pushing her off a roof and covering up the murder, lawyers said.
The court also heard how the 30-year-old took 'sadistic pleasure' in filming Paulina after she smashed her head against a sink, knocking herself out after he gave her a 'whole load of drugs'.
Ceon Broughton was convicted of the manslaughter of Louella Fletcher-Michie for failing to get her the vital medical help she needed after she took a class A drug he had supplied her at Bestival
Ceon Broughton posted a video of an unconscious girl on the underground on his YouTube channel
Ceon Broughton (left), 30, had been on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of being responsible for the death of his girlfriend Miss Fletcher-Michie (right)
In Louella's case, Broughton had supplied her with six times the usual dose of 2C-P — one of a potent new breed of psychedelic stimulants that can cause acute psychosis.
When she'd reacted badly to it, he had spent six hours filming her distress, allegedly seeking a perverse pleasure in the sight of her hallucinating, crying for her mother and harming herself.
Although a hospital tent at the festival stood only 400m away, he dismissed Louella's cries for help as those of a 'drama queen' and failed to get medical assistance that would almost certainly have saved her life.
Broughton — who it is thought even filmed Louella after she had died, an hour short of her 25th birthday, in woodland on the outskirts of the festival, where they remained alone — allegedly had another motive for not seeking help.
He had received a suspended sentence for two counts of carrying knives just a month earlier.
Calling the police or other authorities, he realised, would risk further investigation, prosecution and prison.
For John and Carol and their two older children, Sam and Daisy, who sat in court throughout Broughton's three-week trial at Winchester Crown Court, the sense of betrayal following his conviction for manslaughter through gross negligence must be nothing short of earth-shattering.
Louella Fletcher-Michie, the 24-year-old daughter of actor John Michie, died after being given a fatal amount of 2-CP at Bestival. Her boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, was yesterday convicted of manslaughter for supplying the drug and failing to help her when she collapsed
Miss Fletcher-Michie (second right) and Broughton (far right) at a family dinner with her actor father John, mother Carol, brother Sam, sister Daisy and her boyfriend Jamie Jamieson
Speaking outside the court yesterday, Mr Michie said: 'Regardless of the outcome of this harrowing trial, there were never going to be any winners.
'We began our life sentence on what would have been Louella's 25th birthday. Ceon's life sentence is knowing he didn't help Louella to live.'
Their despair will not be lost on the family of Paulina, who escaped Broughton's morbid obessions. Relatives in Sweden reacted to the news with quiet dignity. 'It will bring comfort,' one said.
Swedish Paulina Aberg (above) contacted the prosecutor by email and sent a letter to the court after Broughton's trial started
Paulina's father, music producer Ingemar Aberg, was more direct. Speaking exclusively to the Mail from Stockholm, he said: 'I hope he rots in jail.'
So how did Broughton manage to hide his monstrous behaviour from Louella's loving parents?
A Jekyll and Hyde character whose grandmother has described him as placid and 'polite', he appeared equally at ease in the Michies' privileged celebrity world as he did among the drug-fuelled rap music industry.
Broughton's father (the only member of his family who came to court) and mother separated when he was a child, his mother remarrying a property consultant, with whom she had two daughters, now in their early 20s.
The family moved from London to a semi-detached home in leafier Watford, where — although his mother later separated from her second husband — her son appeared to enjoy a loving upbringing.
Certainly, neighbours told the Mail they were a 'nice' family about whom they had not 'a bad word to say'. As a teenager, however, Broughton discovered skateboarding, his new hobby eventually dragging him into an altogether murkier world.
By his 20s, he was a fully-fledged member of skateboarding gang Laigon Life, a group that also produced violent rap music and whose social media outpourings and YouTube videos celebrated street fights and debauchery. In one piece of footage, apparently from a festival, a youth sits among tents pretending to be a drug-dealer.
Another chillingly prescient moment shows a woman slumped half-unconscious on public transport, seemingly unaware she is being filmed.
Such publicly available clips, it emerged, were merely a drop in the ocean of Broughton's compulsion to film potentially criminal activity.
Police discovered a wealth of more information on his iPhone, which Broughton's lawyers successfully argued would prejudice a jury's decision.
In other shock footage not shown to the jury, he is seen shoving a spoonful of white powder into a scantily-clad woman's nose.
Broughton smashed up a table in the atrium of the court after being confronted by the family during a break in proceedings
He brusquely tells the woman to do 'more'. The unknown female responds: 'More?', and is apparently unsure, before he again shoves the spoon under her nose. He said: '[Miss Aberg] has waited until after the case has begun before deciding she had something to contribute. That's an important factor.
'She has taken a view, she has waited until the last moment to put this evidence before the jury. It is an ambush.
'There's a notebook full of resentment from beginning to end. She wants to hurt him in these proceedings. There is a good deal of resentment and she deals with her knowledge and feelings about Louella's death [in the notebook].
'On the banging of the head incident, she is not telling the truth, that's proved by a text we have quoted and the Crown have not.
'Whether or not the defendant was with her as it happened, he did not know she was hurt because she does not tell him. He puts her in a taxi and when she says she is hurt, he says 'can I help you?' and 'go to the doctor'.
'Also, why is it relevant that someone might take morbid interest in grotesque images?
'As my Lord has pointed out, this is not a case of salacious pleasure in death, it is whether the defendant was grossly negligent.
'This is just prejudicial. The effect will be to make the jury take a view against him. It is a step too far. There is some sleaziness involved and they may find the defendant took an unhealthy pleasure in suffering and that has never been the case.'
After hearing both barristers, Mr Justice Goose, who called the images Broughton was alleged to have, 'death images' during the application, told the court he was rejecting the application for the bad character evidence to be put before the jury.
He said he would give his full reasons later in the case, but said: 'I do not want [Miss Aberg] to believe for a moment this court is forming a view. I do not want her feeling she is being disbelieved.'
Actor John Michie with daughter Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24 (left), who died after taking party drug 2C-P
John Michie and his daughter Louella as a child. She died at Bestival in 2017 after taking drugs given to her by her boyfriend
Ceon Broughton was convicted of the manslaughter of Louella Fletcher-Michie for failing to get her the vital medical help she needed after she took a class A drug he had supplied her at Bestival
Ceon Broughton posted a video of an unconscious girl on the underground on his YouTube channel
Ceon Broughton (left), 30, had been on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of being responsible for the death of his girlfriend Miss Fletcher-Michie (right)In Louella's case, Broughton had supplied her with six times the usual dose of 2C-P — one of a potent new breed of psychedelic stimulants that can cause acute psychosis.When she'd reacted badly to it, he had spent six hours filming her distress, allegedly seeking a perverse pleasure in the sight of her hallucinating, crying for her mother and harming herself.Although a hospital tent at the festival stood only 400m away, he dismissed Louella's cries for help as those of a 'drama queen' and failed to get medical assistance that would almost certainly have saved her life.Broughton — who it is thought even filmed Louella after she had died, an hour short of her 25th birthday, in woodland on the outskirts of the festival, where they remained alone — allegedly had another motive for not seeking help.He had received a suspended sentence for two counts of carrying knives just a month earlier.Calling the police or other authorities, he realised, would risk further investigation, prosecution and prison.For John and Carol and their two older children, Sam and Daisy, who sat in court throughout Broughton's three-week trial at Winchester Crown Court, the sense of betrayal following his conviction for manslaughter through gross negligence must be nothing short of earth-shattering.
Louella Fletcher-Michie, the 24-year-old daughter of actor John Michie, died after being given a fatal amount of 2-CP at Bestival. Her boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, was yesterday convicted of manslaughter for supplying the drug and failing to help her when she collapsed
Miss Fletcher-Michie (second right) and Broughton (far right) at a family dinner with her actor father John, mother Carol, brother Sam, sister Daisy and her boyfriend Jamie JamiesonSpeaking outside the court yesterday, Mr Michie said: 'Regardless of the outcome of this harrowing trial, there were never going to be any winners.'We began our life sentence on what would have been Louella's 25th birthday. Ceon's life sentence is knowing he didn't help Louella to live.'Their despair will not be lost on the family of Paulina, who escaped Broughton's morbid obessions. Relatives in Sweden reacted to the news with quiet dignity. 'It will bring comfort,' one said.
Swedish Paulina Aberg (above) contacted the prosecutor by email and sent a letter to the court after Broughton's trial startedPaulina's father, music producer Ingemar Aberg, was more direct. Speaking exclusively to the Mail from Stockholm, he said: 'I hope he rots in jail.'So how did Broughton manage to hide his monstrous behaviour from Louella's loving parents?A Jekyll and Hyde character whose grandmother has described him as placid and 'polite', he appeared equally at ease in the Michies' privileged celebrity world as he did among the drug-fuelled rap music industry.Broughton's father (the only member of his family who came to court) and mother separated when he was a child, his mother remarrying a property consultant, with whom she had two daughters, now in their early 20s.The family moved from London to a semi-detached home in leafier Watford, where — although his mother later separated from her second husband — her son appeared to enjoy a loving upbringing.Certainly, neighbours told the Mail they were a 'nice' family about whom they had not 'a bad word to say'. As a teenager, however, Broughton discovered skateboarding, his new hobby eventually dragging him into an altogether murkier world.By his 20s, he was a fully-fledged member of skateboarding gang Laigon Life, a group that also produced violent rap music and whose social media outpourings and YouTube videos celebrated street fights and debauchery. In one piece of footage, apparently from a festival, a youth sits among tents pretending to be a drug-dealer.Another chillingly prescient moment shows a woman slumped half-unconscious on public transport, seemingly unaware she is being filmed.Such publicly available clips, it emerged, were merely a drop in the ocean of Broughton's compulsion to film potentially criminal activity.Police discovered a wealth of more information on his iPhone, which Broughton's lawyers successfully argued would prejudice a jury's decision.In other shock footage not shown to the jury, he is seen shoving a spoonful of white powder into a scantily-clad woman's nose.
Broughton smashed up a table in the atrium of the court after being confronted by the family during a break in proceedingsHe brusquely tells the woman to do 'more'. The unknown female responds: 'More?', and is apparently unsure, before he again shoves the spoon under her nose. He said: '[Miss Aberg] has waited until after the case has begun before deciding she had something to contribute. That's an important factor.'She has taken a view, she has waited until the last moment to put this evidence before the jury. It is an ambush.'There's a notebook full of resentment from beginning to end. She wants to hurt him in these proceedings. There is a good deal of resentment and she deals with her knowledge and feelings about Louella's death [in the notebook].'On the banging of the head incident, she is not telling the truth, that's proved by a text we have quoted and the Crown have not.'Whether or not the defendant was with her as it happened, he did not know she was hurt because she does not tell him. He puts her in a taxi and when she says she is hurt, he says 'can I help you?' and 'go to the doctor'.'Also, why is it relevant that someone might take morbid interest in grotesque images?'As my Lord has pointed out, this is not a case of salacious pleasure in death, it is whether the defendant was grossly negligent.'This is just prejudicial. The effect will be to make the jury take a view against him. It is a step too far. There is some sleaziness involved and they may find the defendant took an unhealthy pleasure in suffering and that has never been the case.'After hearing both barristers, Mr Justice Goose, who called the images Broughton was alleged to have, 'death images' during the application, told the court he was rejecting the application for the bad character evidence to be put before the jury.He said he would give his full reasons later in the case, but said: 'I do not want [Miss Aberg] to believe for a moment this court is forming a view. I do not want her feeling she is being disbelieved.'
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