Jack Shepherd was not at Old Bailey on first day of trial over 2015 death of Charlotte Brown

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A man who allegedly killed a woman in a speedboat accident during a date on the Thames was not present in court for the first day of his trial.

Jack Shepherd, 30, is accused of the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, 24, known to her friends as Charli.



Brown, a business development consultant from Welling, south-east London, had met Shepherd, a web developer, on a dating site. The pair were alone together in his boat when the accident occurred.

The boat got into difficulty at Plantation Wharf near Wandsworth Bridge and police were called to reports of someone in distress at about 11.45pm on 8 December 2015.



Brown died later in hospital after they were both pulled from the water. The cause of death was given as cold water immersion and intoxication.

Shepherd, from Abergavenny, south Wales, who denies manslaughter, failed to attend the Old Bailey on Monday. Despite his absence, the trial went ahead and a jury was sworn in.

The common serjeant, Judge Richard Marks QC, told the jury: “You will see that the dock, where the defendant ordinarily sits, is empty. You must not speculate about the reason for the defendant’s absence.

“Nor must you hold his absence against him. His absence is in no way probative of his guilt of the charge, nor does it add anything to the prosecution case against him.

“You will see that he is represented and as you will see when the trial gets under way, his lawyers are in a position where they are able to conduct his defence.”

The judge added that at an earlier hearing Shepherd pleaded not guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence. He advised jurors to ignore media reports of the trial and put emotion to one side.

“In due course, at the end of the case when I sum the case up to you, I will give you further directions about this aspect of the case,” he said.

Brown’s father, Graham Brown, and her mother, Roz Wickens, sat in the well of the court to see the trial begin.



Aftab Jafferjee QC will outline the prosecution’s case on Tuesday morning.