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Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd admits violently attacking girlfriend with barbecue tongs

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property

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Briton Jack Shepherd sits in a Georgian court room in 2019.
Briton Jack Shepherd sits in a Georgian court room in 2019. Picture: Alamy

By Alex Storey

Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has admitted violently assaulting his partner including attacking her with a set of barbecue tongs after getting angry at her for "burning a pizza".

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He entered the guilty plea at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday.

The fresh charges relate to him pinning down the woman and punching her in February 2025, striking her in the chest with barbecue tongs in June 2025, and damaging her keys in that same month.

The court heard Shepherd got angry with his partner for burning a pizza during a barbecue, and "proceeded to hit her with the barbecue tongs on her left breast which caused a permanent scar".

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Shepherd walks escorted by police in Tbilisi in 2019 after a Georgian court ruled to extradite him.
Shepherd walks escorted by police in Tbilisi in 2019 after a Georgian court ruled to extradite him. Picture: Alamy

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty over a prison video link to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property.

The assaults happened in February and June last year, and sparked his recall to prison.

Shepherd was jailed in 2019 for causing the death of his Tinder date Charlotte Brown after drunkenly flipping his boat on the River Thames and latter attacking a bartender.

He was released early from prison in 2024 after serving half of his six-year sentence, but was recalled just over a year later for breaching the terms of his licence.

Shepherd appeared at Isleworth Crown Court in Middlesex via video link from custody on Tuesday.
Shepherd appeared at Isleworth Crown Court in Middlesex via video link from custody on Tuesday. Picture: Alamy

Ms Brown, 24, died in December 2015 after she was thrown from the defective speedboat when it capsized on the Thames.

Shepherd was pulled alive from the Thames, but his victim was found unconscious and unresponsive and later died in hospital.

The killer skipped his Old Bailey trial while on the run in Georgia, before he was eventually extradited back to the UK to serve his sentence.

Shepherd was convicted of manslaughter following the death of Ms Brown.
Shepherd was convicted of manslaughter following the death of Ms Brown. Picture: Gett/Alamy

He was set free on licence in January 2024, but faced recall to prison in September last year after he was accused of violence towards a woman.

On Tuesday, prosecutors agreed to drop two other allegations, of controlling or coercive behaviour and intentional suffocation.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC remanded Shepherd into custody until a sentencing hearing in September.

The judge ordered a probation report on Shepherd’s progress when he was free from prison in 2024 and the first half of 2025.