Teenagers’ manslaughter convictions for killing Mikey Roynon quashed

Two teenagers who were found guilty of manslaughter after a boy was killed with a zombie knife at a house party have had their convictions overturned.

Mikey Roynon, 16, was stabbed in the neck during a row in the garden of a house in Bath in June 2023. Leo Knight, now 18, and Cartel Bushnell, now 17, were convicted of manslaughter in March 2024.

The pair appealed their convictions and were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in May. They were due to face a retrial but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would offer no evidence and they were released on Wednesday.

Shane Cunningham, who was found guilty of Mikey’s murder in 2024, was not allowed to appeal and his conviction still stands.

In the Court of Appeal judgment, Lady Chief Justice said there had been an “accidental, but critical, error” in directions concerning self-defence given to the jury around how to reach their verdict, making the convictions “unsafe”.

The quashing of Knight and Bushnell’s manslaughter convictions was not previously reportable due to the possibility of a retrial. Reporting restrictions were lifted on Thursday after the pair’s retrial was abandoned.

Explaining why it decided there was not a realistic prospect of conviction at a retrial, the CPS said there had been a change to the evidence available since the original trial.

Both of the teenagers had already served sentences for possessing a knife in relation to the incident, a charge which Bushnell pleaded guilty to and Knight was convicted of.

Addressing the pair at Bristol Crown Court, Judge William Hart said: “The fact is, each of you now only has the bladed article sentence.

“Each of you have served a time that exceeds that period, even if you were sentenced for the maximum permissible time for that conviction.

“I impose a conditional discharge on a period of six months.”

This means both teenagers are now free, having spent more than two years in prison, including a period of remand before they were originally sentenced.

Speaking after they were released, Mikey’s mother Hayley Ryall said the pair now had a “second chance”, something her son and family did not have.

“You go through a long trial which is horrendous, it’s like a whirlwind and you think that’s it,” Ms Ryall said.

“You just start rebuilding a different life, a very different life, and then to have it all again is just really hard.”

She went on to say the “most important thing” for the family going forward was to keep Mikey’s name alive, describing the teenager from Kingswood as a “lovable, cheeky boy” with “a really big heart”.

“I can’t begin to put into words how much I miss him.

“I still think he is going to come home,” she added.

Since his death, Ms Ryall has become a prominent anti-knife campaigner, setting up the charity Mikey’s World and working with police to distribute hundreds of bleed kits.

Ms Ryall also said “there was a bit of comfort” in the fact Cunningham would remain behind bars.

“He’s got a life sentence and he deserves it,” she added.

Det Supt Mike Buck, of Avon and Somerset Police, said the dignity and courage Mikey’s family had shown since the teenager’s death had been “truly humbling”.

He continued: “Since Mikey’s life was so cruelly snatched away from him, his family have done an inspirational job raising awareness of the dangers of knife crime.

“We sincerely hope the hard work they have carried out in Mikey’s memory is remembered and respected by everyone, because the consequences can be catastrophic.”

Cunningham, of Devizes in Wiltshire, was detained for life when he was sentenced for Mikey’s murder at the age of 16 in May 2024.