Canoe couple given six years jail each

24 Jul 2008, 5:58 am   -   Source: AAP/SBS
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The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been jailed for more than six years after being found guilty of fraudulently claiming $A512,000.

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The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been jailed for more than six years after being found guilty of fraudulently claiming STG250,000 ($A512,000) following his disappearance.

Anne Darwin, who admitted helping her husband disappear six years ago but claimed he coerced her into committing fraud, was found guilty of 15 charges of obtaining money by deception and money laundering.

She was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court in northeast England to spend six-and-a-half years behind bars.

Her husband, who pleaded guilty at a separate hearing in March to seven charges of obtaining cash by deception and a passport offence, was sentenced to six years and three months.

Mr Darwin "disappeared" in March 2002 while apparently canoeing in the North Sea near the couple's home at Seaton Carew.

Insurance cashed in

But he ended up moving back in with his wife at the family home, covering up the fact that he was alive from their two sons as well as other family and friends.

After an inquest into his death, Anne Darwin cashed in life insurance and pension policies in her husband's name.

The pair then used the money to set up a new home in Panama, but their secret life unravelled when John Darwin turned up at a London police station last December claiming he had lost his memory.

John and Anne Darwin's sons, Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, who gave evidence against their mother last week, sat at the back of the court as Justice Wilkie handed down his sentences.

Justice Wilkie described the brothers as having been "the real victims" of the Darwin's crimes.

"Although the sums involved are not as high as some reported cases, the duration of the offending, its multi-faceted nature and in particular the grief inflicted over the years to those who in truth were the real victims, your own sons, whose lives you crushed, make this a case which merits a particularly severe sentence," he said.

'Compulsive liar'

The judge described Mr Darwin as the "driving force" behind the plot to fake his death, adding that his wife had played "an instrumental rather than organising role".

"Nevertheless, you contributed to its success and played your part efficiently," the judge said. "In my judgment, you operated as a team, each contributing to the joint venture."

Earlier, Cleveland Police detective inspector Andy Greenwood said he was "really pleased" with the verdict, describing Mrs Darwin as a "compulsive liar".

"I am just happy that the truth ... has come out," he said outside the court.

"They were partners in this crime. They worked as a team. She was just out and out despicable. To put people through this particular scenario I think is despicable."

He said police would work with asset recovery teams to ensure all the money obtained by the Darwins in the past six years was recovered.
 

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