Jack Shepherd: wanted speedboat killer for Charlotte Brown’s death arrested in Georgia

Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd was arrested in Georgia ten months after fleeing the UK to avoid trial for the death of his companion.

He went on the run awaiting trial at Old Bailey for the death of Charlotte Brown, 24, who was killed when her faulty speedboat crashed into the River Thames on a wet trip in 2015.

He was convicted in July of manslaughter by gross negligence and sentenced to six years.

A spokesperson for the Georgian Embassy in London said Shepherd had surrendered to police – as images of him smiled as he entered the station.

He said: “He has just surrendered to the Georgian police and now the police are undertaking the necessary detention formalities.”

Her father, Graham Brown, wrote on Facebook: “I just heard that Jack Shepherd has been arrested in Georgia. Justice for Charlotte is near!”

The family said they were “overwhelmed” by the news that he had been arrested and hope he will be quickly extradited to the UK.

Charlotte Brown’s father Graham Brown cried after learning of Jack Shepherd’s arrest in Georgia.

Speaking to BBC Five Live, Mr Brown said: “It’s just an overwhelming emotional feeling.

“The call just came out of nowhere after visiting the Home Secretary yesterday and crikey, it’s so overwhelming, such a feeling of relief really.

“I always thought it would be [in custody one day] but I didn’t really expect it to be today.

“This is really great news, but I don’t know at this point if he surrendered or was arrested, but it looks like he is in custody and will now be returning to the Kingdom. -United to serve his sentence. “

Mr Brown added that the arrest would help end his family.

He said: “The pain never goes away, I just think after time you will learn how to deal with it better.

“I think the family will feel in a much better position to face our loss and better deal with the grief we have suffered over the past three years.”

Images emerged showing Shepherd smirking as he told a TV crew he was innocent.

He says: “My name is Jack Shepherd, I was involved in a tragic accident in which a woman named Charlotte Brown sadly passed away.

“In six months, I hope that justice will be done, I can succeed … and everyone can move on.”

He also told the Rustavi-2 television station that he planned to appeal his conviction for manslaughter.

Charlotte’s sister Katie Brown has expressed her surprise at Shepherd’s “smug” appearance in clips broadcast by a Georgian TV station.

She told BBC News: “I am very surprised at how smug he looks to be honest.

“It just shows a very arrogant man.

“I don’t understand how someone can run away for two crimes and be found guilty and still come right in with a very smug look on their face and claim their innocence. It’s amazing.

“I still think that looking at the clip of him going into that interview he gave, it looks like he thinks surrendering is going to be dismissed from the charge.

“Nothing will bring Charlie back. She had her whole life ahead of her and her actions won, but it’s a bit of justice to her.”

Shepherd can be extradited to the UK under existing diplomatic agreements with Georgia.

Georgia’s extradition conditions state that a person “shall be extradited to a foreign state for crimes which, under the laws of Georgia and that of the foreign state concerned, are punishable by at least one year. imprisonment or a more severe sentence ”.

“In the case of a convicted person, it is necessary that the person be sentenced to at least four months of imprisonment.”

In a statement, Metropolitan Police said: “We have received information from the National Crime Agency that Jack Shepherd, wanted on an international arrest warrant, is being held by police in Georgia.

“His identity has not yet been officially confirmed.

“However, if the man is confirmed as a shepherd, the extradition process will begin immediately.

“Shepherd was sentenced in absentia to six years in jail in July after being convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence following Charlotte Brown’s death in the Thames in 2015.”

Reports were released yesterday claiming detectives failed to act on reports Shepherd fled to Georgia ten months ago.

Shepherd’s wife told Metropolitan Police officers at least six months ago that he had visited the former Soviet republic.

But Georgian police didn’t start tracking him until last week after being contacted by Interpol.

Shepherd, 31, arrived in the capital Tbilisi on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul on March 21 last year. He would have traveled from Great Britain to Turkey a few days earlier.

A friend of Miss Brown’s family said he was “furious” at the delay by Met Police and Interpol in contacting Georgian authorities.

“Charlotte’s family cannot understand the reason for the delay. It is absolutely infuriating for them.

The website designer is believed to be still in hiding in Georgia as his passport has not been used since.

When he failed to show up for his trial at Old Bailey, detectives told Miss Brown’s family that they had interviewed Shepherd’s wife in South Wales and was told he was ‘he had fled to Georgia.

But a country official said: “Until the Georgian side was contacted by Interpol on Monday, we had no information on this matter.”

Home Secretary Sajid Javid met Charlotte’s family yesterday and “underlined his personal commitment” to finding his runaway killer.

Asked about his feelings towards Mr Shepherd, Mr Brown called him “a very rude and ruthless man” who managed to escape and “put two fingers in the air”.

“He has to come back to atone for all of this and I think he did the right thing.

“It’s been pretty tough over the past three years.”

Mr Brown said he was grateful for the attention and support Charlotte’s case received.

He said: “I would like to take this and say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the family.

“The press has been very, very, very supportive and very good to us, so a big thank you. And to my own MP and Sajid Javid. I can’t thank everyone enough.

“She [Charlotte] was the most comforting and beautiful soul, full of laughter and full of joy.

“She didn’t deserve this. It’s such an overwhelming tragedy and it just left a heart-wrenching void in the lives of everyone who knew her. We miss her dearly.”

Earlier this month, it emerged the fugitive had received £ 100,000 in legal aid to fund his appeal despite being on the run, sparking fury.

Shepherd’s attorney, Richard Egan, has previously denied “protecting a fugitive” despite helping him appeal his conviction as he fled the law.