Jack Shepherd, the “speedboat killer”, has been visited in a Georgian prison by his mother and sister, it emerged yesterday, as his victim’s family described their pain on what would have been her 28th birthday.

Shepherd, 31, has been detained at the maximum security Gldani jail in Tbilisi for five weeks after handing himself into the authorities following ten months on the run.

A source close to the family told a Sunday newspaper: "Jack's mum and sister made a short visit last week. He was delighted and it raised his spirits."

Shepherd was convicted in his absence of killing Charlotte Brown, 24, when his speedboat flipped during a champagne-fuelled, late night ride on the Thames.

The web designer from Devon was jailed for six years for manslaughter by gross negligence but has not yet served a day of his sentence.

Miss Brown, from Bexley, south-east London, died when she was flung into the river from his defective vessel on what was their first date in December 2015.