Speedboat fugitive turns himself in
Website designer on the run since March will be extradited back to Britain following arrest
Jack Shepherd, 31, convicted of killing his date in a speedboat crash on the Thames, handed himself in to police in Georgia last night after 10 months on the run. Shepherd fled Britain before his trial for the manslaughter of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown
A “SMUG” fugitive who killed his date in a speedboat crash and then fled the country is to be extradited back to Britain after being arrested in Georgia 10 months after going on the run.
Jack Shepherd, 31, triggered fury yesterday as he grinned, protested his innocence and even claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy during a Georgian television interview following his surrender.
The website designer had escaped to the former Soviet republic before being due to stand trial for the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, who died when his defective speedboat crashed on the Thames during their first date. Miss Brown’s family described him as appearing “very arrogant” during his bizarre television interview.
Shepherd is said to have contacted a Georgian lawyer following extensive publicity about his presence in the country. He was last night being held at a pre-trial detention centre in Tiblisi and is expected to appear in court within the next two days for a hearing that will determine the terms of his extradition.
Shepherd absconded in March 2018, just days after being charged with grievous bodily harm following an incident in which he allegedly knocked a barman unconscious with a vodka bottle in a pub while “blind drunk”. He subsequently failed to appear at a hearing for that case and then at the Old Bailey regarding Miss Brown’s manslaughter. An international warrant was issued in July after he was convicted in his absence and sentenced to six years in prison.
Shepherd’s wife, who lives with their two-year-old son near Abergavenny in Wales, was said to have told police she understood he had gone to Georgia. However, it is believed police there were only contacted with the information last week. In the television interview, Shepherd smiled as he explained how the crash was a “tragic accident”.
One of Shepherd’s newly-hired Tbilisi lawyers, Mariam Kublashvili, declared Shepherd was in the ‘mood to fight’.
She said he arrived as a tourist, adding: “He is prepared to engage in the court process and clear his name.”
On Tuesday Miss Brown’s family met Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, before Mr Brown appeared on television appealing for his daughter’s killer to “do the right thing”.
Last night a Home Office source told the Daily Mail that his extradition could take some time, depending on whether he agrees to extradition or not. Mr Javid added: “I hope that he does nothing to frustrate or delay this return to the UK.”
Last night, Mr Brown, a 55-year-old prison manager from south-east London, told The Daily Telegraph he felt “an overwhelming sense of relief”. “I cried when I heard,” he said.
“It doesn’t bring Charli back, but it’s a great release and an overwhelming sense of relief.” Miss Brown’s sister Katie said: “To just stroll in with a very smug look on his face and to claim innocence is unbelievable. This is a small amount of justice for my sister.”
It is believed Shepherd had travelled to Istanbul, Turkey, before taking a flight to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Shepherd told Georgian television he was innocent.
He told Rustavi 2 television station: “The boat had faults, but experts invited by my defence established that these faults developed when the boat was removed from the water.
Charlotte was driving the boat when the accident happened but unfortunately this fact was forgotten and the media did not mention it either.”
The Old Bailey had heard the boat flipped after Shepherd gave Miss Brown the controls.
She was recovered unconscious but later died. Shepherd was found clinging to the upturned hull by rescuers.
‘I cried when I heard. It doesn’t bring Charli back but it’s an overwhelming sense of relief and release’