Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd jailed for assaulting barman with vodka bottle

Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has been jailed for a further four years after admitting assaulting a barman with a bottle during a drink-fuelled attack.

The 31-year-old former IT consultant, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, pleaded guilty to attacking former soldier David Beech with the bottle.

He appeared before Exeter Crown Court via video link where he pleaded guilty to one charge of wounding with intent in Newton Abbot, Devon, on March 16 2018.

Shepherd admitted “unlawfully and maliciously” wounding the Afghanistan veteran after he asked him and his friend to leave The White Hart Hotel in Moretonhampstead because they were drunk.

Jailing him for four years, Judge David Evans told Shepherd: “Mr Beech had reasonably asked your friend to leave as he would not be serving a customer who was visibly drunk.

“Your friend headed for the door and Mr Beech then asked you to do likewise, and when you became confrontational he explained why he was asking you to leave.

“You should have left. The CCTV footage which I have seen in full shows that you took from your pocket a full glass bottle of vodka which you had brought with you and you held it primed and ready behind your back as Mr Beech reiterated the need to leave."

“Mr Beech then turned to accompany your friend out of the door and you took that opportunity to take the vodka bottle from behind your back and strike Mr Beech across the head with a very hard blow.

“The bottle connected with his forehead and you wounded him in such a way that afterwards he had to be taken to hospital and his wound stitched and glued.

“He described the stunning effect of the blow as being like a blow from a baseball bat.”

During the sentencing hearing, Shepherd appeared to sob and wipe tears from his face.