Mariam Kublashvili: Who is the former Georgian Strictly contestant defending 'Speedboat Killer' Jack Shepherd?

Tblisi lawyer known for appearance on The Stars Are Dancing will defend British fugitive convicted of Charlotte Brown's manslaughter

Jack Shepherd, the so-called “speedboat killer”, is facing extradition from Georgia having handed himself into police in Tbilsi after six months on the run from British justice.

The fugitive, 31, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence last July after his date, Charlotte Brown, 24, was killed in a speedboating accident on the Thames on 8 December 2015.

Shepherd subsequently fled for Eastern Europe and has found a prominent member of the local legal profession to represent him: Mariam Kublashvili.

“We may request not to extradite Jack Shepherd. We do not have the right documentation yet so we are not quite ready to speak about whether we will or not,” Ms Kublashvili said on Georgian television, in her first act as counsel.

The defence lawyer, also 31, is famous in her homeland both for her professional endeavours and for appearing as a celebrity contestant on The Stars Are Dancing, Georgia’s answer to the BBC’s Saturday night hit Strictly Come Dancing, in 2014.

Her most famous case so far has been defending the family of Temirlan Machalikashvili, an Isis affiliate killed by local police.

Machalikashvili hailed from Pankisi Gorge, home to the Kist Chechen ethnic group, with whom Ms Kublashvili herself has ties through her mother.

She is an ex-model, runs her own law firm and is married to actor Levan Khurtsia, her first husband having reportedly run away to America when she was young.

Mariam Kublashvili (Sven Hoffman/Getty)

In 2012, she appeared in a Martini Royale casting video in Ibiza. Describing herself in the clip, she states: “I am a lawyer by profession. I established my own company with a big staff, which is very successful, and I do women’s rights.”

In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service meanwhile says it is currently “consulting with the authorities in Georgia to progress our extradition request”.

But speaking ahead of a court appearance by Shepherd on Friday, Tariel Kakabadze, another member of his legal team, said his client may still fight his extradition, expected to be a drawn-out affair, even though his British representatives have been granted leave to appeal against his conviction.

“It’s Jack Shepherd’s decision not to fight for release on today’s court session,” Mr Kakabadze said.

Under Georgian law, the former web designer from Essex can be detained for up to nine months before extradition.