Charlotte Brown's family outraged as Speedboat Killer Jack Shepherd set for early release
Charlotte Brown, 24, died after her boozy date, Jack Shepherd, crashed their speedboat on the Thames in December 2015. He was given a six-year determinate prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence following her death. Now, after serving half of his sentence, the speedboat killer is set to be freed, for which Charlotte's family rebuked and slammed the Uk's criminal system as "outrageous."
Graham, Charlotte's father, after learning his daughter's killer will be freed in January said, the family will "never get over" what happened to his daughter, who would've turned 31 this month. He said, "Shepherd has shown no remorse," adding, "It goes to show how outrageous our criminal justice system is," reported The Sun.
READ MORE
What really happened?
Jack was recently moved to a category A prison where he's expected to serve the rest of his sentence. He was being held at HMP Frankland in County Durham after he was moved from another prison where he was reported to be bullied by fellow inmates. Whilst Jack was convicted of Charlotte's manslaughter and was given a six-year sentence, he allegedly fled Britain. After 10 months of an international manhunt, he later surrendered to Georgian police, to serve his six-year sentence.
In a 2018 hearing, the court heard how Jack bought the 1980s boat on Gumtree and tried to impress women with it. However, on his first date with Charlotte, the 14 ft Fletcher Arrowflyte GTO crashed, throwing the pair into the river near Wandsworth Bridge, and killing the 24-year-old Charlotte. Moreover, Jack was given additional six months consecutive for skipping his bail in April 2019. During this, he admitted to hitting a barman with a bottle on his head in a hotel in Devon and was given four years extra.
Jack has 'kept his head down and quietly done his time!'
After Jack served 78 days in custody awaiting extradition following his escape from the UK to Georgia, three appeal judges removed those subsequent days from his 10-year jail term, in July 2020. The judges said since Jack served those 78 days in custody it should count as part of the jail term he is serving. Most recently, a Ministry of Justice source said, that Jack has "kept his head down and quietly done his time." The source also highlighted the convict knows his case won't have to go to a Parole Board because he has a determinate sentence. "If he behaves then there is no reason to keep him in jail beyond his halfway point," the source said. "He will be free to simply walk out the door."