Speedboat owner who killed date goes on run from police
A SPEEDBOAT owner who killed his date in a boat crash on the Thames is on the run and being hunted by police.
Jack Shepherd, 30, was found guilty yesterday of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, whom he allowed to take the wheel of his speedboat despite its lack of basic safety features and the fact that they were “intoxicated”.
The pair had met online and were on their first date. It was dark and neither was wearing a life jacket when his boat hit a partially submerged tree trunk in December 2015, catapulting the pair into the river
Shepherd, originally from Exeter, was interviewed by police after being pulled from the freezing water but absconded days before his four-week trial began at the Old Bailey.
He is also wanted on a separate charge of GBH with intent, having failed to turn up to court on that matter in June, and could face further charges relating to the breach of bail conditions.
After the jury had returned its verdict, Judge Richard Marks QC said he felt they were owed an explanation about Shepherd’s whereabouts. “He chose to not to attend this trial and absconded. It is appropriate he is given a chance to attend his sentencing but if he does not I will sentence in his absence,” he said.
“There is a warrant out for his arrest. The authorities do not know where he is and have not been able to apprehend him.”
The Met Police has appealed for help in tracing the web designer, who was last seen in March in Devon. Shepherd’s legal team insist they have no idea where he is, despite receiving instructions from him by phone. They successfully argued that the reason for his absence should be kept from jurors, who should only be told he had “chosen” not to give evidence.
The court heard that Shepherd regularly used his speedboat as part of his “seduction routine” but had been warned twice previously by police about the importance of life jackets.
On the night in question, he had taken Miss Brown for dinner at the Oblix restaurant in The Shard, where they had drunk two bottles of wine, before going back to his houseboat in Hammersmith. They then took a bottle of champagne onto his red Fletcher Arrowflyte GTO for a high speed sightseeing tour.
Miss Brown, a business development consultant, could be heard yelling: “Oh my God, you’re going so fast” as she made a video on their way up to the Houses of Parliament.
Shepherd then invited her to take the wheel and moments later, the pair were catapulted into the freezing river. Shepherd was found clinging to the hull and Miss Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive.
He denied manslaughter on the basis he had no “duty of care” towards Miss Brown but will be sentenced in his absence today.