Jack Shepherd, the man convicted of killing Charlotte Brown in a 2015 speedboat crash on the River Thames, has pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend on multiple occasions following his release from prison. Shepherd, 38, appeared via videolink at Isleworth Crown Court on July 28, 2026, from HMP Swaleside in Kent, admitting to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) and one count of criminal damage. Sentencing is scheduled for September 4.

Shepherd was originally jailed in 2018 for the gross negligence manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, 24, who drowned after being thrown from his speedboat when it struck a submerged tree trunk at high speed. The incident occurred during their first date in December 2015 after the pair had dined and drank champagne in central London. Shepherd initially fled to Georgia before being tried and sentenced in absentia. He was extradited back to the UK in 2019 and later served additional time for a separate violent offence.

Following his release on licence in January 2024, Shepherd began a relationship with a woman in her 50s, whom he met after moving into a shared house in Southall, west London. Over several months, the relationship reportedly deteriorated amid allegations of verbal abuse and belittling remarks about her age and weight. Prosecutors stated that Shepherd called his partner names such as "old lady hag" and accused her of flirting with other men.

The assaults occurred in February and June 2025. In February, Shepherd pinned the woman down, punched her multiple times causing bruising to her arm and leg, and struck her chest with barbecue tongs. In the June incident, a dispute over a burnt pizza during a barbecue escalated, and Shepherd hit her on the left breast with the same barbecue tongs, causing a permanent scar. During the same period, he also damaged her keys. Two further allegations—of controlling or coercive behaviour and intentional suffocation—were withdrawn following Shepherd’s denial.

Neighbours described the relationship as volatile, with disturbing arguments and audible threats heard from the shared property. Some expressed concern for the woman’s wellbeing, calling Shepherd a “danger to all women” and stating that she had been placed in a fearful situation. At the time, Shepherd had not resumed work as a web designer and was selling used furniture while living in the house.

The court heard that Shepherd was recalled to prison on September 13, 2025, after breaching licence conditions by contacting his victim and missing curfew. Judge Martin Edmunds remanded him in custody pending sentencing.

Shepherd’s criminal history has drawn significant media attention since the manslaughter conviction. The speedboat crash, which occurred on the Thames, resulted in Brown’s death from cold water immersion after being thrown from the defective vessel. Shepherd received a combined ten-year sentence for manslaughter and a subsequent grievous bodily harm offence involving an assault on a barman, to be served consecutively.