A rapper jailed for the manslaughter of the daughter of a Holby City actor has begun an appeal.

Louella Fletcher-Michie, daughter of actor John Michie, died after taking the hallucinogenic drug 2-CP at the Bestival music festival, at Lulworth Castle, Dorset, in September 2017.

She was found dead in the early hours of September 11, the day on which she should have celebrated her 25th birthday, in a wooded area on the edge of the festival site.

Ceon Broughton court case
Family handout photo of Louella Fletcher-Michie (Zoe Barling/PA)

Her boyfriend, Ceon Broughton, 31, of Enfield, north London, was handed an eight-and-a-half-year sentence, in March 2019, following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Three appeal judges are considering the case at a virtual Court of Appeal hearing.

Jurors found Broughton guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Broughton was also found guilty of supplying Miss Fletcher-Michie with 2-CP, at the festival.

He had previously admitted supplying drugs to Miss Fletcher-Michie at the Glastonbury festival, in June 2017, and was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for possessing a lock knife and a Stanley knife blade.

Ceon Broughton Appeal
Actor John Michie outside Winchester Crown Court (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Prosecutors said Broughton had failed to take “reasonable” steps to seek medical help for Miss Fletcher-Michie.

They said Broughton did not get help because he had been handed a suspended jail term a month earlier and feared the consequences.

But Stephen Kamlish QC, who leads Broughton’s defence team, questioned on Wednesday whether jurors could have been sure that Miss Fletcher-Michie would have lived had she received appropriate treatment.

He told appeal judges that Miss Fletcher-Michie might have taken an “overdose” which “from the outset” was “not repairable, not survivable”.

Mr Kamlish said jurors had to be sure that any “breach of duty” by Broughton was a “substantial” cause of death.

He said, “evidentially” there were a “number of unknowns”.

The hearing continues.