Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has received a 20-month prison term accompanied by a four-year extended licence after launching a violent attack on his partner, which included stabbing her with pointed barbecue tongs.
The 39-year-old appeared at Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing, having earlier admitted to two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm alongside a charge of criminal damage.
The attacks, which occurred in February and June last year, resulted in Shepherd being recalled to prison.
Passing sentence, Judge Martin Edmunds KC, the recorder of Kensington and Chelsea, stated that the impact of Shepherd’s violence on the victim was “aggravated by your notoriety”.
He was originally imprisoned for six years in 2018 for manslaughter following the death of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown, who died when his speedboat crashed on their first date.
Shepherd absconded to Georgia to avoid his Old Bailey trial, remaining on the run until he was extradited back to the UK to begin his custodial term.
Upon returning to the UK, he was handed an additional four-year sentence at Exeter Crown Court in 2019 for a drink-fuelled assault on a bar staff member on 16 March 2018 at The White Hart Hotel in Newton Abbot, Devon.
His recent offending involved Shepherd pinning his partner down and striking her during an argument, before attacking her with sharp barbecue tongs when she pointed out he had burnt a pizza.
The court heard the couple began a relationship in August 2024 after meeting in shared living accommodation and becoming friends while playing badminton.
Addressing the court regarding the first incident, prosecutor Katherine Lloyd said the victim, aged in her 50s, was arguing with Shepherd when he “pinned her down and punched her several times”.
In June 2025, the defendant was drinking wine and beer when his partner commented that he had burned their pizza on the grill.
“The defendant stabbed her with the barbecue tongs on her left breast which caused a wound which bled,” the prosecutor told the court.
During the same month, Shepherd committed criminal damage by following his partner outside in the middle of a row.
As she sat in her vehicle and put the key in the ignition, Shepherd thrust his arm through the car window to grab the keys, breaking them.
In mitigation, George Payne said Shepherd, who attended court via video link from HMP Swaleside in Kent, was “genuinely very ashamed of his behaviour”.
“The behaviour is driven by his abuse of alcohol and is a feature that has existed for a long time,” Mr Payne stated.
However, Judge Edmunds rejected the submission, telling Shepherd: “As for mitigation you have expressed through your advocate acceptance of responsibility and remorse but I place no faith or value in such expressions of acceptance or remorse from you.
“Your pattern is to commit offences and afterwards apologise, and produce excuses. Your prepared statement sought to shift blame anywhere but yourself.”
The court was informed that Shepherd’s current release date under his existing sentence is 23 January 2029, and his 20-month prison term will be served concurrently.
