Speedboat killer ‘to be released early’

SPEEDBOAT killer Jack Shepherd should leave prison sooner than expected as a result of a ruling by appeal judges.

Three judges have decided that 78 days he spent in custody awaiting extradition from Georgia, after going on the run ahead of a trial, should count as time served.

Shepherd, 32, originally from Exeter, is serving a six-year sentence following the death of Charlotte Brown, 24. Miss Brown died after being thrown from Shepherd’s speedboat when it capsized on the River Thames during their first date in December 2015.

Shepherd hit the headlines after going on the run ahead of an Old Bailey trial. He was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in his absence, in July 2018, and later extradited back to the UK from Georgia.

Shepherd is also serving a consecutive four-year sentence after admitting wounding a barman during an attack in 2018 in Newton Abbot.

Appeal judges have decided that the time he spent in custody awaiting extradition should count as part of the four-year sentence.

Lord Justice Fulford, Mr Justice Holgate and Sir Roderick Evans made the decision at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Thursday. Lawyers representing Shepherd mounted an appeal after arguing that the 78 days had wrongly not been taken into account as part of the wounding sentence.

Judges, who said prosecutors had not objected, allowed the appeal.

Shepherd did not appear at the hearing. He had been given the fouryear sentence at Exeter Crown Court in 2019 after admitting wounding with intent. The court heard that he struck David Beech with a vodka bottle in March 2018 after being asked to leave The White Hart Hotel in Newton Abbot.