A man who gave his girlfriend drugs at a music festival filmed her and branded her a “drama queen” as she lay dying, a court has heard.
Louella Fletcher-Michie, 24, the daughter of Holby City actor John Michie, was found dead in woods on the Bestival site in Dorset in 2017.
Boyfriend Ceon Broughton, 29, failed to seek help because he feared breaching a suspended jail sentence, jurors heard.
He denies manslaughter and supplying drugs.
William Mousley QC, prosecuting at Winchester Crown Court heard, said the defendant had given his girlfriend the Class A drug 2CP while they attended the event in the grounds of Lulworth Castle in September 2017.
“He did not intend to cause her harm and Louella willingly took that which she was given, but it had a terrible effect,” he said.
‘Screeching’
Ms Fletcher-Michie died after a “significant period of suffering”, he said, and Mr Broughton had continued filming “when she was disturbed, agitated, and then seriously ill” over several hours.
“He even did so, the prosecution suggest, after she was apparently dead,” Mr Mousley said.
In video clips shown to the court, Ms Fletcher-Michie repeatedly shouts at Mr Broughton to telephone her mother but he tells her to “put your phone away”.
Carol Fletcher-Michie eventually spoke to her daughter at 18:48 BST, growing concerned when she “could hear her screeching”.
Her parents were so worried they set off for the festival, repeatedly messaging and calling Mr Broughton, the prosecutor told the jury.
Sam, her brother, also contacted Mr Broughton and urged him to seek medical help.
However, Mr Broughton replied, saying “call back in an hour” and referred to Louella as a “drama queen”, jurors heard.
The court was told Mr Broughton was handed a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, a month before Ms Fletcher-Michie’s death.
“His failure to get her treatment which may well have saved her life was borne of selfishness and in self-preservation,” Mr Mousley said.
“Because to have done otherwise, to have acted positively, he knew would have exposed him to the possibility of arrest and prosecution for a criminal offence punishable with imprisonment.”
“Failure to act was a substantial cause of her death,” he added.
Stephen Kamlish QC, defending, denied claims Mr Broughton acted out of selfishness, saying he tried to carry his “loving girlfriend” out of the woods but failed because the terrain was hilly and full of thorns and nettles.
He told jurors Ms Fletcher-Mitchie bought the drugs before Mr Broughton arrived at the festival and they could only find him guilty of gross negligence manslaughter if he had given her the drugs and she had been at an “obvious risk of dying”.
Mr Kamlish said no-one had ever been known to have died from taking 2CP.
He added: “Ceon and Louella were in love with each other and willingly chose to take drugs together. Mistakes, even serious mistakes… are nowhere near enough for a crime such as this to be guilty.”
Mr Kamlish said Mr Broughton had tried to get people to his girlfriend at an earlier stage and had tried to restrain her when she was “thrashing about, injuring herself”.
He said: “He couldn’t actually have done any more than he did… in this difficult and frightening situation.”
He told the court the couple liked to film each other when they were taking drugs.
Mr Broughton, 29, of Island Centre Way, Enfield, London, denies manslaughter and supplying Class A drugs.
The trial continues. BBC News