Duo jailed for killing Mikey get convictions overturned

TWO people jailed for the killing of a young rapper at a 16th birthday party have had their manslaughter convictions quashed at the Court of Appeal, it can now be reported.

- CALLUM PARKE AND ROD MINCHIN

Mikey's mum Hayley Ryall

Cartel Bushnell and Leo Knight were sentenced to nine years and nine and a half years respectively in youth detention in May 2024 after being convicted of the manslaughter of 16-year-old Mikey Roynon.

Mikey was fatally stabbed in the neck with a large knife during a house party in Bath, Somerset, in June 2023.

Fellow teenager Shane Cunningham was convicted of murder and detained for life with a minimum term of 16 years.

Cunningham, Bushnell and Knight, who were all 16 at the time of their convictions, sought to challenge their convictions at the Court of Appeal in May this year.

In a ruling that month, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Mr Justice Bryan and Mr Justice Cavanagh quashed Bushnell and Knight's convictions, while dismissing Cunningham's appeal bid.

The ruling could not be reported because of a retrial scheduled to begin in November, but yesterday, the three judges said the prosecution had “offered no evidence” in either case, meaning reporting restrictions could be lifted.

In their judgment, Baroness Carr said there had been an “accidental, but critical, error” in directions given to the jury around how to reach their verdict, making the convictions “unsafe”.

Mikey’s mother, Hayley Ryall, said yesterday that she was “gutted” that the cases against Bushnell and Knight were discontinued, claiming it felt “like a punch in the stomach”.