Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd jailed for attack on partner

Shepherd, 39, was sentenced to 20 months behind bars with an additional four years on extended licence at Isleworth Crown Court after admitting two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and a charge of damaging property.

The attacks, which took place in February and June last year, triggered his recall to prison.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC, the Recorder of Kensington and Chelsea, said the impact of Shepherd’s violence on his partner had been "aggravated by your notoriety".

Shepherd was previously jailed for six years in 2018 for the manslaughter of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, who died when his speedboat crashed during a first date.

Charlotte Sophie Brown, 24, who preferred to be known as Charli, died in the River Thames. (Image: SWNS.com)

In his manslaughter trial, the court heard that Shepherd, a web developer, met Ms Brown, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, for a first date, and offered to take her on a ride along the River Thames on his speedboat.

They had both been drinking champagne, and Shepherd handed the controls of the boat to Ms Brown just before it struck a submerged tree and overturned, tipping both of them into the cold water.

He was plucked from the Thames alive, but Ms Brown was found unconscious and unresponsive.

Shepherd denied manslaughter by gross negligence, but skipped his Old Bailey trial while on the run in Georgia and did not give any evidence in his own defence.

He was eventually extradited back to the UK.

He was subsequently sentenced to an additional four years in 2019 for a drunken attack on a barman in Devon.

In his latest offences, Shepherd pinned down and punched his girlfriend during an argument and later stabbed her on her left breast with barbecue tongs after she remarked that he had burned a pizza on the barbecue.

Jack Shepherd appeared via video link at Isleworth Crown Court, London, where he pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner, including striking her in the chest with BBQ tongs. (Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)

The court heard the pair began dating in August 2024 after meeting in shared accommodation.

Prosecutor Katherine Lloyd told the court: "The defendant stabbed her with the barbecue tongs on her left breast, which caused a wound that bled."

In another incident in June 2025, Shepherd damaged her car keys during an argument by reaching through the car window and breaking them.

George Payne, defending, said Shepherd was "genuinely very ashamed of his behaviour."

He said: "The behaviour is driven by his abuse of alcohol and is a feature that has existed for a long time."

Judge Edmunds dismissed claims of genuine remorse.

He said: "Your pattern is to commit offences and afterwards apologise, and produce excuses.

"Your prepared statement sought to shift blame anywhere but yourself."

The court heard that Shepherd’s latest release date on his existing sentence is January 23, 2029, and that he would serve his 20-month jail sentence concurrently with that.