A man is in hiding from the police after being found guilty of killing his date in a speedboat accident on the Thames.

In December 2015, Jack Shepherd, 30, met Charlotte Brown, 24, on the website OkCupid and took her on a date in his Fletcher Arrowflyte speedboat. The boat later capsized, and Brown was killed.

Shepherd was charged with manslaughter by gross negligence, which he denied on the basis that he had no “duty of care” towards Brown, but was found guilty in his absence at the Old Bailey.

Following his conviction it can be reported that he skipped bail and failed to attend his trial, to the anger of Brown’s grieving parents in court.

Despite issuing instructions to his legal team by phone, police were unable to track him down and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Her family pleaded with Shepherd to attend court for his sentencing on Friday. In a statement on behalf of relatives, the victim’s sister, Katie Brown, said: “Charlie died because she thought she would be safe taking a journey on Jack Shepherd’s speedboat – a speedboat that we know was unsafe and that he bought with the sole purpose of seducing young women and one he had used recklessly many times before.

“During the trial, in his absence, with his whereabouts unknown to both the court and police, Jack Shepherd was afforded more rights than Charlie.”

Brown added: “We now appeal to Jack Shepherd wherever he is in the world to return and assume the responsibility of his guilt and the devastation he caused by his actions that fateful night – we appeal to Jack Shepherd’s family and friends to appeal to him and urge him to face the consequences of his actions.”

According to witnesses, Shepherd had entertained a number of women on his speedboat before Brown, having bought it with the intention to “pull”. He had reportedly been caught speeding on the boat a number of times before his date with Brown, and a previous date recounted asking Shepherd to slow down and getting a taxi home because she was so uncomfortable with the speed.

Jurors at the trial were also told that there were a number of defects with the boat, including faulty steering, hard-to-reach life jackets, and a disconnected kill cord.

On their first date on 8 December, Shepherd and Brown had an expensive meal and two bottles of wine before boarding the speedboat with champagne.

Mobile phone footage shows Brown shouting about the speed as Shepherd drove at more than 24 knots down the river – more than double the speed limit.

The boat capsized near Wandsworth Bridge when it hit a submerged log. Both Shepherd and Brown were tipped into the water and local resident Steven Morrissey said he heard Shepherd screaming for help.

Charlotte Brown died after Shepherd’s speedboat crashed and capsized on their first date. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

Brown was unresponsive when she was pulled from the river, already both hypothermic and in cardiac arrest. Paramedics attended to her, but she was later pronounced dead.

Shepherd was found conscious, holding on to the tipped boat. He later told police that he had a “hazy memory” about the night’s events. “I had no idea what happened,” he said.

It can now be reported that Shepherd told his lawyers in mid-May he would not attend his trial in July but the Crown Prosecution Service and court only found out a week before.

In legal argument, the prosecution said police had spoken to his mother on 27 June and was told he had not been in contact since March and his phone number was no longer connected. His defence team insisted they did not know where he was even though his solicitor had maintained telephone contact.



It later emerged Shepherd had been receiving daily updates from the trial from his legal team. But they successfully argued that the reason for his absence should be kept from the jurors deciding his case and they should only be told he was not in the dock and had “chosen” not to given evidence.

Jafferjee said the lawyers had been “dancing on pins” as they debated exactly what to tell the jury as the defence objected to the words “failed to attend”.

Police are also seeking Shepherd about another unrelated matter.