Briton Jack Shepherd sits in a court room in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A court in Georgia has ruled to extradite a fugitive British man wanted for manslaughter in the case of a woman who was killed during a London date on a speedboat. The court ruled on Tuesday to extradite Jack Shepherd, who was tried in absence and sentenced last year to a six-year prison term. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — A fugitive British man wanted for the manslaughter of a woman killed during a London date on a speedboat is to be extradited from Georgia, a court ruled Tuesday.
Jack Shepherd, 31, vanished while on bail over the manslaughter of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, who died when his speedboat hit a log and flipped on the River Thames in London in December 2015. The pair, who met on a dating website, had spent the evening at a restaurant before taking to the river.
The web designer showed up at a police station in Tbilisi, Georgia, in January and turned himself in. He was tried in absentia in Britain and sentenced last year to a six-year prison term.
The victim’s family and politicians including Prime Minister Theresa May had called on Shepherd to hand himself in.
Shepherd’s lawyer Tariel Kakabadze told reporters after the ruling that his client had agreed to be extradited and was eager to “answer all the questions” that he did not get a chance to address while the trial went on without him.
Shepherd said at the previous hearing that he wish he could “sit down with Charlotte’s family and explain” what happened.
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