Man charged with manslaughter two years after late night river date ended in tragedy

A man has been charged with manslaughter by gross negligence following the death of a woman during a late night date on the River Thames nearly two years ago.

Jack Shepherd was charged on Tuesday in connection with the death of 24-year-old Charlotte Brown in December 2015.

The couple had been on the Thames near Wandsworth Bridge, in west London, when their speedboat capsized, throwing them both into the freezing waters.

Police were called to reports of someone in distress in the River Thames near Wandsworth Bridge. Officers from Wandsworth borough and the Marine Support Unit searched the area, alongside the National Police Air Service and RNLI lifeboat crews.

Miss Brown and Mr Shepherd were pulled from the water at around 11.45pm. Miss Brown, a business development consultant known to her friends and family to her friends as Charli, died later in hospital. Detectives from Wandsworth borough initially investigated the death, but the case was transferred to Scotland Yard’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, due to what the Met Police described as “the complex nature” of the case.

Following the 20-month-long investigation Mr Shepherd, 30, a website developer from Abergavenny, Wales, was charged by postal charge requisition - a form of summons - with causing Ms Brown’s death.

He will appear at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on 18 October. Following Miss Brown’s death her sister Katie said she believed she would have survived had she been wearing a buoyancy aid when she was thrown into the water.

The 28-year-old said: “She was the type of girl who lived life to the full and she was probably excited to tell us about this adventure.

“Even the best swimmer in the Thames at this time of year, with the current conditions and the cold, I don't see many people standing a chance without a life jacket. We don't know exactly what happened. If she was wearing a life jacket there is a chance she could still be here today.”

Miss Brown’s father Graham, who works for the Ministry of Justice as a prison manager, said his daughter, "died in the most tragic circumstances. It was 10pm on a full tide and they were wearing no life jackets”.

He added: “That could have killed any other woman who was with them."

Since his daughter’s death Mr Brown, 54, from Plumstead, south east London, has raised more than £2,300 for the RNLI in her memory.

Speaking at the time of her daughter’s death Miss Brown’s mother, Roz Wickens, 52, a former London Ambulance Service emergency medical technician from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, said her daughter had “touched so many hearts”.

“I am so totally devastated I can't put it into words, but when people see what a beautiful woman she is, they will know how everyone loved her,” she said.

In a company website Mr Shepherd says he recently left London to live in rural Wales and start a family.