Speedboat killer Jack Shepherd has insisted he was not solely responsible for the death of Charlotte Brown but has apologised for the role he played in the Thames tragedy.

Shepherd, awaiting extradition from Georgia, said he agreed that he has to take “some of the moral responsibility” for the 24-year-old’s death, but said Ms Brown’s actions “led to the fatal accident”.

Speaking from prison in Tbilisi, he told The Sun: “I can understand why her family apportion the entire blame on me. But the reality is not quite so simple.

“Absolutely, unreservedly, I apologise for the role I played, and undeniably I did play a part.

“(Ms Brown’s family) have my sincere sympathies and condolences and I understand why they apportion the blame as they do.”

Shepherd, 31, who is reportedly due to fly back to the UK under police guard on Wednesday, said “a number of factors” led to the accident.

He and Ms Brown were on a first date when they went for a late-night speedboat ride down the Thames in December 2015 and had been drinking champagne.

The 14ft Fletcher Arrowflyte hit a submerged log near Wandsworth Bridge and overturned.

Ms Brown was thrown to her death in the freezing water.

Shepherd said it was a joint decision for the pair to go out on the boat and it was Ms Brown who wanted to drive it.

He admitted it was his decision to allow her to take the controls but he conceded he could have given her more instruction.

He said: “But it was ultimately Charlotte’s action to accelerate in the manner that she did, even though I failed to prevent her.”

There were “matters of luck or fate” involved such as not seeing the log.

Shepherd, a web designer originally from Exeter, fled his manslaughter trial at the Old Bailey last year.

In his absence he was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison.

He was granted permission to appeal against the conviction in December and handed himself in to authorities in Tbilisi in January.

His surrender followed repeated public appeals by Ms Brown’s family for him to return to Britain and face the courts over her death.

After his extradition was granted by a court in March, her family said he had a weak case and “no choice” but to return.

“We are going to get justice for Charlotte,” her father, Graham Brown, told ITV.

He added: “We’re hoping that he won’t follow through with his appeal, which causes the family more anguish, but I guess that could be a forlorn hope.”

The Sun said Mr Brown had no comment on his apology, while her mother, Roz Wickens, told the paper: “I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but nothing he says will bring my daughter back.”

A date has yet to be set for the appeal hearing.

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