Do the decent thing
Fugitive found guilty of killing date in speedboat crash is told to hand himself in by her family
A FUGITIVE womaniser who killed his date in a speedboat accident has been urged to hand himself in by her family.
Web designer Jack Shepherd had been trying to ‘show off’ to 24-year-old Charlotte Brown after meeting her on dating website OkCupid.
But their champagne-fuelled first date ended in catastrophe when he took her for a spin on his boat, which sped past the Houses of Parliament at more than double the 12 knot limit.
The vessel, which he bought to seduce women, later crashed and both were plunged into the freezing cold Thames just before midnight in December 2015.
Miss Brown died after being pulled unconscious from the river. Shepherd, 30, denied manslaughter by gross negligence on the basis he had no ‘duty of care’ to her but refused to show up for his trial – despite being in touch with his legal team, who do not know where he is, every day of proceedings.
He was found guilty in his absence at the Old Bailey yesterday. It can now be revealed that Shepherd, originally from Exeter, has been on the run since March and has not even spoken to his mother.
Outside court yesterday, Miss Brown’s sister Katie, flanked by their parents, said on the family’s behalf: ‘We now appeal to Jack Shepherd, wherever he is Convicted: Jack Shepherd in the world, to return and assume the responsibility of his guilt and devastation he has caused by his careless actions.’
He was also due appear in court last month in for another offence. Jurors were told how
‘I was trying to show off’
Shepherd bought the 14ft Fletcher Arrowflyte GTO from Gumtree to ‘pull women’. In the months before Miss Brown’s death, he had entertained up to ten women on the 1980s model, having invited them back to his houseboat in west London.
During that time, he had been caught speeding by marine police more than once and advised on the importance of wearing life jackets. A previous date Amy Warner said she felt so uncomfortable aboard the vessel she asked Shepherd to slow down and then got a taxi home.
On December 8, 2015, Shepherd treated Miss Brown to a £150 meal at Oblix in the Shard skyscraper, where they drank two bottles of wine. They went back to Shepherd’s place and took champagne on the speedboat for a trip past the Palace of Westminster in the cold and dark – described as ‘sheer madness’ by the prosecution.
In mobile phone footage, Miss Brown could be heard shouting that they were going ‘so fast’.
The life jackets had been tucked away and the boat had a number of defects, including faulty steering, the court heard.
On the return journey, Shepherd said he handed over the controls to business development consultant Miss Brown, who went ‘full throttle’. The speeding boat hit a submerged log and tipped over near Wandsworth Bridge, sending the pair into the water. Riverside resident Steven Morrissey told the court that he heard a young man clinging to the hull screaming for help, adding: ‘It was just “Help me” – not “us” or “her”.’
Miss Brown was pulled from the water and died from cold water immersion. The next day, Shepherd tearfully told police: ‘I was just trying to show off about having a speedboat’.
In the family’s statement, Katie Brown attacked Shepherd for taking her sister on a boat ‘we now know was unsafe’ and accused him through his absence of being ‘afforded more rights’ than his victim.
The family also argue Miss Brown would have survived had she been wearing a life jacket and criticised Shepherd’s defence for claiming otherwise.