A man convicted of killing a woman in a speedboat crash is to return to the UK after agreeing to be extradited from Georgia.

Appearing in court in Tbilisi, Jack Shepherd indicated through his lawyers thathe wanted to return to appeal against his conviction over the death of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown.

The 31-year-old surrendered to police in the Georgian capital in January, six months after he was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and was sentenced to six years in prison.

He had gone on the run before the trial began, and has been granted permission to appeal against the conviction.

Charlotte Brown. Photograph: Met police/PA

When British prosecutors filed a request for Shepherd’s extradition at the beginning of March, it initially seemed he would oppose it and try to conduct his appeal from Georgia, claiming that he feared for his life in a UK prison.

Before the latest court hearing, his lawyer in Georgia estimated Shepherd could return to the UK this week. “He is not fighting extradition,” Tariel Kakabadze said.

Brown’s family, from Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, have fought for justice since her death in December 2015.

Shepherd and Brown met on the dating website OkCupid and were on their first date when he took her for a ride on the Thames in London in his boat.

His trial heard he was speeding when the boat hit a submerged log and overturned. Brown died in the water near Wandsworth bridge. Shepherd was found clinging to the upturned hull.

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