Jack Shepherd's network investigated as police warn that accomplices will be charged

Jack Shepherd in court
Jack Shepherd in court Credit: Shakh Aivazov/AP

Police are investigating the network of family and friends who may have helped a convicted killer remain on the run in Georgia.

Jack Shepherd, 31, fled the UK last March and spent ten months dating women, allegedly learning to ski and living the high life in Tbilisi, despite claiming to be “suicidally depressed.”

But when he appeared in court last week after finally handing himself into the authorities, prosecutor Ketevan Gurashuili described him as a "clever man" who "had contacts" to help him escape.

She suggested there was evidence that he "had plans to flee to Thailand or Indonesia".

A Metropolitan Police spokesman vowed to leave no stone unturned as it investigates how Shepherd managed to abscond and support himself financially for so long.

“We will fully investigate the circumstances around Jack Shepherd’s flight from the UK,” he said on Sunday.

Charlotte Brown, who died in the accident Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA

“If evidence of assistance is identified, we will submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision.”

Shepherd, a web designer from Devon, escaped to the former Soviet republic ahead of his trial for the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, who died when his defective speedboat crashed on the Thames during their first date.

He was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment in his absence but last week indicated he will fight extradition, suggesting that Miss Brown was responsible for the accident, that her grieving father, Graham Brown, had threatened him and that he feared for his life.

Mr Brown has denied ever speaking to him.

Police investigating his case are understood to have examined a network of Shepherd’s associates who all moved to a remote corner of Northern Thailand in recent months.

Acting on information obtained by the Telegraph, officers attempted to contact one of his closest friends who left for Thailand shortly after Shepherd absconded.

jack Shepherd's speedboat Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA

Weeks earlier, the friend had apparently allowed Shepherd, who is married and has a two-year-old son, to become a co-director of his web design business under a false name.

Until last year, the friend was working as a freelance for a small tech firm in south west England.

A flatmate said he left for Thailand “quickly” last July. His former employers are understood to have helped police with their inquiries.

It is not suggested that the friend - who cannot be named for legal reasons - had any knowledge of Shepherd’s whereabouts.

The Telegraph established that two other members of the close knit group had relocated to the same remote corner of Thailand. Like Shepherd, each was a so-called “digital nomad”, using only their laptop to make a living.

One of his friends defended Shepherd in the strongest terms, telling the Telegraph that the publicity surrounding his decision to flee justice was “endangering and destroying his welfare”.

Maiko Tchanturidze, 24, the Georgian television presenter whom Shepherd has been dating in Tbilisi, is understood to have discussed getting legal representation amid fears she could be accused of harbouring a criminal.

Jack Shepherd speaks to a Georgian TV station Credit: RUSTAVI 2

Shepherd’s lawyer, Mariam Kublashvili, confirmed that she was “in talks” with the former journalist

“If she is interested why not, maybe I will represent her,” she said. “We had negotiations with people who are in Georgia and connected with Jack.”

Shepherd’s family, based in Devon, declined to comment on their knowledge of his whereabouts whilst he was on the run. None of them spoke out publicly to urge him to hand himself in.

His step mother, Hannelore Shepherd, 78, went so far as to say she was unhappy he had surrendered to the police and that she believed Miss Brown was responsible for her own death.

“She hit a log and they are blaming him for everything,” she said. “So I am not very happy about it at all. But I do feel very sorry for her parents for what happened.”

Shepherd's mother, Julia, 58, declined to comment on whether she has had any contact with her son or if she is concerned about how he will cope in a Georgian prison.

However, Ms Kublashvili, has revealed that his family have contacted him regularly and intend to visit him when the initial three-month detention period is up.

“His friends have also been on touch and have said they are supporting him and are right behind him”, she told the Telegraph.

Jack Shepherd's mother Julia, 58, refused to comment on whether she has had any contact with her son or if she is concerned about how he will cope in a Georgian prison.

Mr Brown said last night: “I would like to think that the police will prosecute anyone found to have been helping Jack Shepherd.”