Ceon Broughton, the man accused of manslaughter over the death by drug overdose of Louella Fletcher-Michie at a music festival, tried six times to help her on his own before calling an ambulance, Winchester Crown Court has heard.
Mr Broughton, 29 and from Enfield in north London, is on trial and also accused of supplying the Class A drug 2C-P to Ms Fletcher-Michie, who was found dead at Bestival at 1am on 11 September 2017, which should have been her 25th birthday.
The court heard that Mr Broughton filmed Louella as she overdosed at the event in Dorset and subsequently exchanged panicked text messages with a friend, instructing him: “If the fam asks, say a random gave us 2C-P.”
Hello and welcome to The Independent's coverage of the Louella Fletcher-Michie manslaughter trial from Winchester Crown Court.
Adam Lusher again reports live as Ezra Campbell - a friend of the accused, Ceon Broughton - continues to give evidence.
Yesterday the court heard from members of the deceased's family, recalling the day of her death in emotional detail.
It also heard from Mr Campbell, whose text messages with Mr Broughton revealed the latter saying "I can't get bagged" when Mr Campbell advised him to seek medical attention for Ms Fletcher-Michie.
Boyfriend didn't call ambulance for Louella Fletcher-Michie as she lay dying because he didn't want to 'get bagged', court hears
‘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,’ father John Michie tells manslaughter trialAs he took the stand at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, the girl’s father, Holby City actor John Michie, looked over to the dock and stared hard at his daughter’s boyfriend.
He told 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.”
“He didn’t seem to be concerned, I thought. Obviously any normal person would be concerned.”
Today's proceedings are about to begin. Ezra Campbell is about to resume giving evidence.
Mr Campbell was at Bestival but not with Broughton or Louella when they took 2C-P.
As Louella started to suffer from the effects of the drug, Broughton and Campbell exchanged text messages.
The court heard yesterday that in one message, Mr Campbell told Broughton to call an ambulance for Louella.
The court heard that Broughton replied, "I can't get bagged [arrested]."
Mr Campbell, the court heard, replied: "Fam, just act like you don't know her."
Mr Campbell explained to the court that he was telling Broughton, "If you are worried about getting arrested, just act like you don't know her."
Mr Campbell has said that one audio message was so upsetting, that when police were analysing it after the tragedy, he had to leave the room as officers examined his phone.
Stephen Kamlish QC, defending, is discussing the message that Broughton sent in which he told Mr Campbell, 'I can't get bagged [arrested]'.
Mr Kamlish says: "What he is saying is, 'I don't want to get arrested', because he was on a suspended [prison] sentence."
But, saying he wanted to go through the preceding messages with Mr Campbell, Mr Kamlish added: "He [Broughton] tried six times, before saying that, to get help.
"He was telling the family to stay calm but he was saying to you, 'You need to get the meds' "
Mr Kamlish turns his attention to the audio file, sent by Broughton, that would later distress Mr Campbell in his police interview.
Mr Kamlish says this was a recording of "Louella in distress". He says this was "an attempt by him [Broughton] to make understand what was going on, to get help."
The court heard that Mr Campbell replied, "It sounds bad though. What the f***?"
Mr Campbell says: "When I heard that, 'I was like, 'That doesn't sound good.'"
He agrees that Broughton later sent him a Google pin drop of his location, with the message "Send meds to this location."
Mr Campbell, the court heard, replied by telling Broughton "I don't have Google maps."
In court, Mr Campbell tells the jury: "He knew I was trying to get help."
He adds: "It sounded to me like he thought he could handle the situation, he didn't want her parents to come."
Mr Campbell tells the jury he was confused when Broughton messaged him saying he didn't want to get arrested, "I didn't think about the suspended sentence. I didn't think about that until days later.
"At the time I didn't understand the reason."
Explaining his inability to locate the couple, and his mistaken assumption that Louella and Broughton were in the 'ambient forest' part of the festival site, Mr Campbell says his phone reception was poor and he could hear only fragments of audio messages.
"It sounded like he [Broughton] was underwater the whole time," he says. "All I got back was 'forest'. I assumed ambient forest. That's where I thought they was. [But] the whole festival is surrounded by woods."
The court hears that at about 10.30pm Broughton sent a message to Mr Campbell saying he was going to try to carry Louella from where they were, and added: "If the fam asks, say a random gave us 2C-P"
Mr Campbell says he didn't know how the 2C-P was obtained and from whom.
The court hears that in his statement to police, Mr Campbell said: "There was lots of 2C-P going around the festival. I don't know where they got it from."
Mr Campbell says that Louella told him her own drugs stash had been confiscated by security when she arrived at the festival, but somehow she managed to get it back.
He says: "She told me that, the night before, she got frisked down by security. They took them from her but she managed to get them back."
Mr Kamlish suggested: "By sweet-talking somebody?"
Mr Campbell replied: "Yes. They took them from her and then she got them back."
Mr Campbell is now being played a video clip showing Louella earlier in the day, at about 1.04pm, several hours before she took the 2C-P.
She is heard saying "Wheee!" happily.
Mr Campbell confirms he filmed this footage on his phone.
The jury is now taking a short break
The jury is back in court. Another clip is about to be played, this time, one taken on Louella's phone
It is from when Broughton and Louella were alone.
Louella can be heard saying: "This little boy has been reaching for things that aren't there ... Hallucinating ... "
She adds: "More fun tomorrow", in a possible reference to her birthday, 11 September, which was to become the date on which she was found dead.
Mr Campbell is discussing his attempts to locate Broughton and Louella on the night.
He agrees when Mr Kamlish suggests: "You had him [Broughton] on the phone trying to describe his location but, we've all had it, the signal was really bad.
"About the only things you got were 'forest' and 'barbed wire'.
"That's what you ended up having to tell the people looking for them."
Mr Campbell explains: "I assumed he was in the ambient forest and that he was somewhere in the ambient forest with barbed wire."
Mr Campbell, the court has heard, was mistaken. The couple were not in the ambient forest.
Louella was found dead at 1am on 11 September 2017, the day of her 25th birthday.
William Mousley QC, prosecuting, is asking Mr Campbell to confirm the timings of messages that have been presented to the jury in their evidence bundles.
Mr Mousley is trying to ascertain whether Mr Campbell recalls Broughton telling him over the phone to get the medics, or whether it was just in a text message.
Mr Campbell says: "I can't recall".
Mr Kamlish rises to object "most strongly", saying Mr Campbell should not be expected to rely on his memory now, and should instead refer to the statement he gave in the immediate aftermath of Louella's death.
After being handed a copy of his statement, Mr Campbell eventually says that a request to "get the meds" came in the first phone conversation between him and Broughton.
Mr Mousley asks: "Do you recall whether Ceon ever initiated any messages, or was he just responding to you?"
Mr Campbell says it wasn't quite like that.
"We were having a conversation," he says. "Regardless of the times, this was one conversation."
As he took the stand at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, the girl’s father, Holby City actor John Michie, had looked over to the dock and stared hard at his daughter’s boyfriend. He told 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 wept in the witness stand as he recalled the day of her death and his final phone call with Ms Fletcher-Michie.
He told the jury: “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.
“I’ve never heard her speak in that way. It almost didn’t sound like her.”
Mr Broughton’s voice, on loudspeaker, sounded “watery”, “without energy in it” and he did not seem “compos mentis”, Mr Michie said.
He added: “He didn’t seem to be concerned, I thought. Obviously any normal person would be concerned.”
