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Jack Shepherd: Speedboat killer family 'must help police'

Metropolitan Police Charlotte BrownMetropolitan Police
Charlotte Brown, known as Charli, was a business development consultant

The family of a woman killed in a speedboat crash on the River Thames has called on her killer's friends and family to "do the right thing".

In July, Jack Shepherd was sentenced in his absence for the manslaughter of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown in 2015.

Miss Brown's father Graham, who met with the home secretary earlier, said anyone who knows Shepherd's whereabouts "should let the police know."

Sources told the BBC the 31-year-old has been in Georgia since March.

Getty Images Graham BrownGetty Images
Graham Brown spoke following a meeting with Sajid Javid

Speaking following the meeting with Sajid Javid, Mr Brown again called on Shepherd to "take responsibility" for what he had done.

"No one should give support, assistance or encouragement to him other than to do what he should have in the first instance," he said; adding the family "will not tire, until justice is done."

Mr Javid arranged the meeting with Ms Brown's father, mother and sister so he could give his "personal assurance of the effort being made across government".

In a statement, the home secretary said he had told the family the authorities would "strain every sinew and explore every option to bring them the justice they deserve."

Shepherd went on the run before his conviction and the BBC has been told "there are records" of him being in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, and "no sign" he had left the former Soviet state.

The Met Police and the Home Office have declined to comment on his possible whereabouts.

Met Police Jack ShepherdMet Police
Jack Shepherd told police he had bought the speedboat to "pull women"

The 31-year-old and Ms Brown met on the dating website OkCupid and went on a date in December 2015.

Shepherd spent £150 on wine and food at a restaurant in London, before taking Ms Brown on a speedboat he claimed he owned.

The pair were thrown from the boat when it hit branches in the water near Wandsworth Bridge.

Map: route taken by Jack Shepherd and Charlotte Brown

Shepherd was found clinging to the hull and Ms Brown, from Clacton, Essex, was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive.

A post-mortem examination found she died from cold water immersion.

Despite being in hiding, Shepherd has won the right to appeal against his conviction.