A British man killed his OkCupid date in a speedboat accident, went on the run to avoid prison, and turned up 2,000 miles away on the edge of Russia

• A British man who was convicted of the manslaughter of his OkCupid date in a speedboat accident fled his trial, and turned up 2,000 miles away.
• Jack Shepherd took Charlotte Brown out on London's River Thames in December 2015.
• During the date, the boat flipped. Brown died in the cold water, while Shepherd survived.
• He left the UK before his trial for Brown's manslaughter. He was convicted in his absence and sentenced to six years in prison.
• After months on the run, Shepherd handed himself in to police in Tbilisi, Georgia.

A British man wanted for the manslaughter of his date in a speedboat accident in London handed himself in more than 2,000 miles away after months on the run.

Jack Shepherd was convicted in the death of Charlotte Brown, a 23-year-old he met on OkCupid, and took on a glamorous date in the winter of 2015.

Brown was driving the speedboat when it flipped and plunged them into cold water, which killed her. A British court held Shepherd responsible for her death, on grounds of gross negligence.

The two had just finished a £150 ($195) meal in The Shard, London's tallest skyscraper, when he offered to take her on his speedboat, which he told police he bought to impress women.

According to London's Metropolitan Police, Shepherd drove Brown 13 miles along the chilly Thames. Neither had wetsuits or life jackets, officers said.

According to the police, Shepherd handed control to Brown, who flipped the boat after hitting a log. Both had been drinking, officers said.

Shepherd was saved by rescue crews who spotted him hanging from the boat. Brown was unresponsive when she was found, and ultimately died from cold-water immersion.

After the crash, Shepherd told police he couldn't remember much, as they had both consumed alcohol that night. They had brought champagne onto the boat, police said.

Shepherd first appeared in court on January 26, 2018, where he entered a not guilty plea. A jury disagreed, and found him guilty of manslaughter.

He did not attend the sentencing hearing, on July 27, 2018. He was sentenced in his absence to six years in prison for manslaughter by gross negligence.

Detective Sergeant Christopher Davis, who investigated the death for the Metropolitan Police, said after the conviction: "To take his boat out at night, whilst drinking, in winter conditions and without offering Charlotte a life jacket or even asking if she could swim was a recipe for disaster."

"That night ended in a tragedy and the consequences will live with Charlotte’s family forever."

It was later reported he had left the country as early as March 2018, and fled to Georgia, a former Soviet country on Russia's southern border, the BBC said.

Six months after the conviction, a man claiming to be Shepherd handed himself into a police station in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Wednesday.

According to The Associated Press, the man told TV crews: "Yes my name is Jack Shepherd, I was involved in a tragic accident."

The Metropolitan Police said in response to the news: "if the man is confirmed as Shepherd, extradition proceedings will begin immediately."

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