UK man who fled after speedboat death detained in Georgia

LONDON (Reuters) - A British man who went on the run last year after killing a woman in a speedboat crash on the River Thames has been detained in the former Soviet state of Georgia, London police said on Wednesday.

Jack Shepherd, 31, was convicted in his absence last July of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Charlotte Brown, 24, and sentenced to six years in jail.

“We have received information from the National Crime Agency (NCA) that Jack Shepherd, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant, is in the custody of police in Georgia,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.

“His identity has yet to be officially confirmed,” it added. However, if the man is confirmed as Shepherd, extradition proceedings will begin immediately."

Shepherd had taken Brown on a first date in December 2015 during which the couple dined at a restaurant in London's tallest building, The Shard, before he took her for a ride in a speedboat he said he owned.

Prosecutors said he was drunk and that neither he nor Brown was wearing a life-jacket.

Shortly before midnight, the boat hit floating debris and both were thrown into the water. Shepherd was found clinging to the hull but Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and died from cold water immersion.