Speedboat killer to hear appeal next week

4 June 2019, 07:23 | Updated: 4 June 2019, 07:25

Jack Shepherd, who was jailed over the speedboat death of a woman from Clacton-on-Sea, has had a date set for his challenge against his manslaughter conviction.

Court of Appeal judges, sitting in London, will hear his appeal on Thursday June 13, a spokesman for the judiciary confirmed on Monday.

Last summer, Shepherd was found guilty in his absence of killing 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, who died when his boat overturned on the River Thames in December 2015. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

He went on the run ahead of his Old Bailey trial and was later extradited to the UK from Georgia after handing himself in to police in the capital Tbilisi in January, telling reporters it was a "tragic accident".

Shepherd, originally from Exeter, had previously appeared at the court and pleaded not guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.

Jurors heard that he and Ms Brown had been drinking champagne and went on a late-night jaunt in his boat past the Houses of Parliament on their first date.

Web designer Shepherd had handed the controls to Ms Brown just before it capsized, tipping both of them into the cold water, the court was told.

He was plucked from the Thames alive, but his date was killed.

Following his return from Georgia, Shepherd, 31, appeared at the Old Bailey in April and was sentenced to an additional six months for breaching bail.