Speedboat killer in court in Georgia ahead of extradition to UK

Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd FINALLY agrees to be extradited from Georgia to Britain and will now return within days to serve six-year sentence after spending a year on the run

  • Shepherd was convicted of manslaughter after his date died in speedboat crash
  • He went on the run before the trial and was later tracked down in Georgia
  • The 31-year-old now faces extradition back to the UK, where he plans to appeal
  • His lawyer says he still refutes the case against him but has agreed to return 

Fugitive speedboat killer Jack Shepherd will be flown back to Britain to start a six-year jail term in the coming days after he agreed to be extradited today. 

The 31-year-old was sentenced in his absence last year for the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, 24, on a champagne-fuelled first date when his speedboat overturned in the River Thames.

He went on the run to the former Soviet state of Georgia while facing trial over Miss Brown’s 2015 death.

Shepherd is currently being held in a prison in Tbilisi after handing himself in to the authorities last month and was brought into court today for an extradition hearing.

His lawyer told the court he does not agree with the case against him, but accepts he must return to the UK to bring an appeal. 

He laid out a bizarre set of demands for Shepherd’s return to the UK, including a cell to himself, which is covered by CCTV, and ‘access to the media’.

Jack Shepherd appears in court in the former Soviet state of Georgia today as British authorities attempt to have him extradited to the UK

Jack Shepherd appears in court in the former Soviet state of Georgia today as British authorities attempt to have him extradited to the UK

His lawyers have suggested he's given up hope of fighting extradition to the UK

His lawyers have suggested he’s given up hope of fighting extradition to the UK

His lawyer, Tariel Kakabadze, said yesterday that Shepherd is likely to agree to extradition back to the UK, although a final decision will be made today.

Mr Kakabadze said: ‘He wants to participate in a UK court hearing. If he stays in Georgia he will not be able to. He wants to give information to the judges and be present in court.’

Mr Kakabadze said he believes Shepherd could return to the UK as early as this week.

Web designer Shepherd, originally from Exeter, may seek certain ‘reassurances’ before agreeing to the request, which was sent to the Georgian authorities by the Home Office, the lawyer suggested.

When he returns to Britain, on top of the six years for manslaughter, he may face charges for absconding – punishable with a further year’s jail. 

Shepherd has been given permission to appeal against his manslaughter conviction.

Charlotte Brown, 24, died after a speedboat crash on the Thames during a date with Shepherd

Charlotte Brown, 24, died after a speedboat crash on the Thames during a date with Shepherd (pictured)

Charlotte Brown, 24, died after a speedboat crash on the Thames during a date with Shepherd

Shepherd has spent 62 days in this three-man cell in a high security Georgian jail

Shepherd has spent 62 days in this three-man cell in a high security Georgian jail

Timeline of the case 

December 8 2015: Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Brown meet for a date. After dinner at the Shard, they took champagne on board his speedboat for a ride past parliament which ends in a crash in which Miss Brown died.

March 2018: Shepherd was charged with GBH following an incident in which he allegedly knocked a barman unconscious with a vodka bottle. He then failed to appear at a hearing for that case at the Old Bailey regarding Miss Brown’s manslaughter.

July 2018: An international arrest warrant is issued for Shepherd

July 26, 2018: Shepherd, despite being absent from court, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence

July 27, 2018: Shepherd is sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. 

January 23, 2019: Shepherd hands himself in to police in Georgia

March 26, 2019: He agrees to be extradited.

The new father abandoned his wife and young child to abscond before his trial last year and tried to start a new life in the former Soviet republic.

Following a Mail campaign, Shepherd eventually handed himself in to Georgian police on January 23 after ten months on the run.

Shepherd has spent recent weeks locked up in the maximum-security Gldani prison after blocking earlier attempts to extradite him in January. 

Pictures of his cell, which emerged today, show his bed consists of a mattress and thin blanket, and there is a sheet hung up to block out light from the cell’s curtainless window. 

While the surroundings may not immediately look inviting, sources say it is one of the more recently-refurbished rooms in the jail in the capital Tbilisi and a big improvement on older, grimmer cells which hold up to eight inmates.

His lawyer Mariam Kublashvili said: ‘He has no complaints. He has access to an English menu and literature. He loves books.’ 

No date has been set yet for Shepherd’s appeal hearing. 

Miss Brown died when she fell into the Thames after she and Shepherd went out onto the water

Miss Brown died when she fell into the Thames after she and Shepherd went out onto the water

 

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