Court due to rule on Jack Shepherd appeal against manslaughter conviction

A man found guilty of killing his date in a speedboat accident is set to find out if his manslaughter conviction will be overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Jack Shepherd was jailed for six years over the death of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, who was thrown from his boat when it capsized on the River Thames during their first date in December 2015.

The 31-year-old web developer challenged his conviction for manslaughter by gross negligence at the court in London last week.

His lawyers argued the conviction is unsafe because some of the evidence at his trial came from an interview during which he was not cautioned or offered a solicitor because of a “mistake” by police.

Sir Brian Leveson, who heard the appeal with two other senior judges, will deliver the court’s ruling on Thursday at 10.15am.

Shepherd, originally from Exeter, went on the run ahead of his Old Bailey trial and was convicted in his absence in July 2018.

He was later extradited to the UK from Georgia after handing himself in to police in the capital Tbilisi in January.

Jurors at Shepherd’s trial heard that he and Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, had been drinking champagne and went on a late-night jaunt in his boat past the Houses of Parliament.

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

He was plucked from the Thames alive, but Ms Brown was found unconscious and unresponsive.

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

He was jailed for a further four years at Exeter Crown Court earlier this month after he admitted wounding with intent in relation to a drink-fuelled attack on a barman.

The court heard he struck former soldier David Beech with a vodka bottle on March 16 2018 after being asked to leave The White Hart Hotel in Newton Abbot, Devon.