Neighbours of speedboat killer Jack Shepherd reveal hearing his new girlfriend's 'disturbing' screams as he terrorised her in tiny bedsit

By INDERDEEP BAINS, CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:01, 29 July 2026 | Updated: 00:03, 29 July 2026 Neighbours of speedboat killer Jack Shepherd have revealed how they were forced to listen to his new girlfriend's 'disturbing' screams as he terrorised her in a cramped bedsit. One resident who witnessed the relationship unravel branded Shepherd a 'danger to all women' and said he had put his partner 'through hell'. The 38-year-old convicted killer had quickly struck up a romance with the woman, who is 20 years his senior, after moving into a room next to her after his release from prison. But the romance soon descended into a 'nightmare', with the 57-year-old confiding in a friend that she was 'frightened' of him. It comes after Shepherd admitted two violent assaults on the woman - who the Mail is not identifying - including striking her with barbecue tongs as well as pinning her down and punching her. 'They seemed like a happy couple at first, but after a while they started having very, very disturbing arguments and the whole house had to listen to it. 'There was screaming and shouting and everything. She used to say she was frightened. She said he used to put his hand around her neck and threatened her,' the neighbour alleged. 'It was a disaster in the end, she's been through hell. He could have killed her,' he added. Neighbours of speedboat killer Jack Shepherd, pictured in 2019, have revealed how they were forced to listen to his new girlfriend's 'disturbing' screams as he terrorised her Inside the converted property in Southall, west London, where Shepherd admitted he carried out two violent assaults on his new girlfriend Neighbours revealed how they were forced to listen to the woman's 'disturbing' screams as he terrorised her in the cramped bedsit A court artist sketch of Shepherd who pleaded guilty via video link to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property Shepherd had targeted the older vulnerable woman who was described as 'alone and in need of someone to talk to' soon after moving into the converted property in Southall, west London. The pair occupied two of the six pokey rooms, which each had a toilet and shower, in the cramped bedsit and shared a communal kitchen. 'They started talking…she was quite taken by him, he is a charming man,' one neighbour said. 'Then they began a relationship, at the beginning it was very good. He spent a lot of time with her, they went to local pubs and stuff.' With his hair shaved short, the convicted killer introduced himself as 'Jack' but was said to be using a different surname. 'I liked him, I had nice conversations with him…He seemed like a jolly guy and is obviously quite intelligent,' the neighbour added. The pair officially started dating in August 2024 and split their time between their two rooms which were side by side in the semi-detached property backing onto the murky Grand Union Canal. At the time, Shepherd avoided returning to his former well-paid career as a web designer and eked out a living hawking used furniture. 'He would pick up furniture and other items that people were trying to get rid of for free, bring them back here, and then sell them on,' the neighbour added. At first his new life in west London appeared uneventful, but it was not long before the façade came crashing down. 'They got on and it was great for a while but then it just became a nightmare,' the neighbour added. He said the relationship began to break down a few months in and only came to a head when Shepherd was hauled away by police last September. 'He could have killed her; he is a dangerous man I can say that,' he added. 'He's conned her and conned us all. We were all taken in by him…but he's a danger to all women.' The assaults last year sparked Shepherd's recall to prison after just 18 months of freedom. In the first incident in February 2025, he admitted pinning down the woman and 'punching her several times, causing bruising to her arm and top of leg' during an argument. He also admitted a second assault that June where he hit her with the 'barbecue tongs on her left breast which caused a permanent scar' after getting angry over a burnt pizza at a BBQ. Shepherd had been released in January 2024 on licence after originally being jailed for 10 years for manslaughter in 2018 over the death of his date Charlotte Brown, 24, when his speedboat crashed. Shepherd had previously been jailed for the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown, 24, who died when Shepherd's speedboat crashed while they were on a date in 2015 Charlotte Brown was killed when Shepherd took her on a high speed ride past the Houses of Parliament in his defective speedboat During his brief spell of freedom, his neighbours said he had failed to show any remorse over Miss Brown's tragic death. 'I found out about the speedboat and when I said I had seen it (in the news) he didn't try to hide it,' a neighbour recalled. 'In fact, he just tried to justify it, saying it wasn't murder, it was manslaughter. As if it was nothing - completely ignoring that someone's family had been destroyed.' The neighbour said Shepherd also boasted about his time on the run in Georgia, where he spent ten months enjoying ski trips and nights out in Tbilisi while evading British authorities in 2018. Even then - aged 32, a married new father wanted over Charlotte's death - he struck up a romance with a 24-year-old model and TV presenter. He bragged about the whirlwind affair to his new neighbours, leaving out the crucial detail that he had abandoned his wife and new baby at home in Wales. 'He told me a little story about how he ended up in Georgia and how he tried to escape the police. 'When he told me the story, he said he met a lady over there. That he was very lucky,' a neighbour said. On Tuesday Shepherd pleaded guilty via video link to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property. Isleworth Crown Court heard the woman had also accused him of 'belittling' her with jibes about her weight and age, and that he accused her of flirting with other men. Prosecutors agreed to drop two other allegations of controlling or coercive behaviour and intentional suffocation. Judge Martin Edmunds KC, the Recorder of Kensington and Chelsea, remanded Shepherd into custody until a sentencing hearing in September.