Introduction
1.This appeal concerns causation in gross negligence manslaughter. Louella Fletcher Michie (“Louella”) was pronounced dead in the early hours of the morning of Monday 11 September 2017 at the Bestival Music Festival at Lulworth Castle. She had taken a controlled Class A drug, namely 2C-P as well as ketamine and ecstasy. The appellant, who was her boyfriend, had supplied the 2-CP and “bumped” it up either by giving her an increased dose or mixing it with ecstasy or ketamine. The pair had left the grounds of the festival for nearby woodland at about 16.30 during the afternoon of Sunday 10 September. There, Louella experienced a trip. It was intense, involving a bad reaction to the drugs. The prosecution case was that having supplied the drugs and remained with her, the appellant owed Louella a duty of care to secure medical assistance as her condition deteriorated to the point where her life was obviously in danger. He was grossly negligent in failing to obtain timely medical assistance, which failure was a substantial cause of her death. 2.On 28 February 2019 the appellant was convicted of manslaughter and of supplying Louella with the 2C-P. He had earlier pleaded guilty to supplying both her and a friend with 2C-P on another occasion at a different festival. He was subject to a suspended sentence for possession of two knives. He was sentenced to a total of eight and a half years’ imprisonment; seven years for the manslaughter, thirteen additional months for the drugs offences, and five more on activation of part of the suspended sentence. 3.The appellant appeals against conviction by leave of the single judge on the ground that the prosecution failed to adduce evidence from which the jury could be sure that the appellant’s negligence was a cause of Louella’s death. He renews two grounds on which leave was refused, first, that the judge misdirected the jury on causation and secondly that no duty of care arose on the facts of the case.