Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd set to leave prison earlier than expected after court ruling

Jack Shepherd, who was jailed over the death of a woman who was thrown from his speedboat on their first date, is set to leave prison sooner than expected after a ruling by appeal judges.

Three judges have decided that 78 days he spent in custody while awaiting extradition to the UK from Georgia - having gone on the run ahead of a trial - should count as time served.

The 32-year-old, originally from Exeter, Devon, is serving a six-year sentence following the death of Charlotte Brown.

Miss Brown, 24, died in the accident when Shepherd's speedboat capsized on the River Thames during their first date in December 2015.

Shepherd became the subject of widespread coverage after being a fugitive ahead of an Old Bailey trial.

He was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in his absence, in July 2018, before eventually being extradited back to the UK from Georgia.

Shepherd is also serving a consecutive four-year sentence for wounding a barman during an attack in 2018.

Lord Justice Fulford, Mr Justice Holgate and Sir Roderick Evans made the decision to count the time he spent in custody as part of his sentence at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Thursday.

Shepherd's lawyers had mounted an appeal, arguing that the failure to take the 78 days into account as part of the wounding sentence was a mistake.

Judges, who said prosecutors had not objected, allowed the appeal during a hearing which Shepherd did not attend.

He had been given the four-year sentence in 2019 after Exeter Crown 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, Devon.

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