Jack Shepherd extradition: emergency hearing could see killer brought back to UK

Jack Shepherd is fighting extradition to the UK after fleeing to Georgia
Reuters
Benedict Moore-Bridger29 January 2019
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Lawyers for speedboat killer Jack Shepherd have announced an emergency hearing that could see him brought back to the UK.

His legal team say the Briton is due to appear in court in Tbilisi later today in the latest stage of the bid to extradite him.

Writing on Facebook, Tariel Kakabadze said: "Prosecutor requested Jack Shepherd's urgent extradition according to simplified rules.

"We, Jack Shepherd's defense team are going to fight the request!"

The 31-year-old web designer handed himself in to Georgian authorities after months on the run following his conviction for killing Charlotte Brown.

Shepherd's lawyer: Mariam Kublashvili
Sven Hoffman /Martini via Getty Images

Shepherd, 31, was found guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, when the pair were thrown overboard in December 2015 on the Thames.

He did not attend his Old Bailey trial, instead going on the run for 10 months, and was sentenced in his absence to six years in jail.

Web designer Shepherd finally handed himself in to police in Tbilisi last week and is in custody before a judge hears Britain’s request to bring him back to the UK.

Today his lawyer in Georgia, Mariam Kublashvili, claimed the crime he was convicted of did not apply under Georgian law. She told the BBC: “What happened, in the river of Thames is not a crime by Georgian law.

Jack Shepherd in court last week
Reuters

“If their behaviour... is not in Georgian law a crime, the person must be not be extradited. He prefers to serve his sentence in Georgia. For him, it is better to stay here if it is possible.”

Justice Secretary David Gauke today condemned a death threat sent to Shepherd’s British lawyer as “completely unacceptable”.

The letter to Richard Egan told him to “remember Jo Cox”, the Labour MP murdered by far-Right extremist Thomas Mair. It references stabbing and bombing, and features a swastika and the words “Heil Hitler”.

Mr Egan, who has reported the letter to police, said: “It threatens my family. It suggests that I have been followed and that the writer knows where I live and where I work. There is a specific threat to firebomb my firm, endangering the lives of my colleagues.”

Former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, said the letter represented an attack on the rule of law.

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