Speedboat killer extradited from Georgia back in UK

Fugitive Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in his absence of manslaughter last year over the death of Charlotte Brown, a 24-year-old woman he took on a champagne-fuelled first date on his speedboat in the River Thames in London in 2015.

Shepherd drove over the speed limit and at one point handed Brown the controls. The boat flipped and Brown died in hospital while Shepherd was rescued.

He is due to appear for a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey in London, England's central criminal court, on Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. He could face extra jail time for absconding.

Shepherd will later face a court in southwest England over a second unrelated charge, the state prosecutors said.

"Jack Shepherd has returned to the UK to face justice following close cooperation between the CPS Extradition Unit, UK colleagues and the Georgian authorities," said Angela Deal, the CPS's head of extradition.

"He will first appear at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for the gross negligence manslaughter conviction in connection with the death of Charlotte Brown, and then at a later date in the southwest over the grievous bodily harm charge."

Shepherd vanished before his trial in Britain last year and was sentenced to six years in prison. An international warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was granted permission to appeal against the conviction in December and the web designer turned himself in to the police in Tbilisi in late January.

He said in court in Tbilisi that he regretted fleeing his trial and felt "suicidally depressed" about what happened.

Shepherd returned on a Georgian Airways flight from the capital Tbilisi, following a decision by a Georgian court in March to extradite him.

His lawyer in Georgia said Shepherd is "concerned about his safety" in Britain and "wants to be placed in solitary confinement", monitored round-the-clock, and have access to the media.