Olympic gaming bid
PROFESSIONAL gaming could be part of the Olympic Games, according to the head of eSports at gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
The Overwatch League grand final takes place in New York this weekend, featuring UK franchise London Spitfire, before a crowd of 20,000 people.
Pete Vlastelica, president of eSports leagues at the developer of the popular Overwatch shooting game, said the scale of the final proves gaming is a sport, and said he had talked to Olympic organisers. AN INTERNATIONAL manhunt has been launched to find a “cowardly” speedboat owner sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in his absence for killing his date in a crash on the River Thames.
Web designer Jack Shepherd, 30, had been trying to impress 24-year-old Charlotte Brown after meeting her on dating website OkCupid.
But their Champagne-fuelled first date ended in tragedy when his boat capsized near Wandsworth Bridge in central London when it hit a submerged log after Shepherd encouraged his date to take the wheel.
They were both thrown into the cold water and Ms Brown died after she was pulled from the river unconscious and unresponsive.
Shepherd, originally from Exeter, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence in his absence over the incident on December 8, 2015, after failing to attend his Old Bailey trial.
The judge has issued a warrant for his arrest and police have launched an international manhunt to bring him to justice after he ignored his victim’s family’s pleas to return to face justice.
His own barrister Stephen Vullo QC said: “He could not have faced the Brown family from the dock and it’s cowardice he could not do so.”
Reading an emotional victim impact statement in court, Ms Brown’s mother Roz Wickens said: “I want Jack Shepherd to know that when he’s enjoying himself with his family, I in fact am not enjoying myself and never will.
“The truth is I will be visiting Charlotte’s grave. Also, if it was a dreadful accident, as he has claimed, why hasn’t he explained what happened that night and at least sent his condolences?
“The fact is, if Charlotte had not met him she would still be alive today. The empty hole that has been left in my heart is huge and is agony. I will continue to feel pain, distress, emotion and anguish until I take my final breath.”
Judge Richard Marks QC sentenced Shepherd to six years’ imprisonment in his absence yesterday and said he had a “totally cavalier attitude to safety”.
“What is clear beyond doubt in my judgment is the defendant should never have allowed Charlotte to drive the boat at any time,” he said.
“She had been drinking, it was dark, and he must have known the river potentially contained hazards ... she had no previous boating experience at all.”
The court heard Shepherd got married to a childhood friend very shortly after the speedboat crash and now has a child.
But the relationship broke down and Shepherd has struggled to gain work because of his drinking and links to the case, his barrister said.
Outside court, Scotland Yard’s Detective Sergeant Christopher Davis said police are speaking to his friends and family, visiting different addresses and working with various agencies to find his whereabouts.