Darwins jailed for canoe fraud

Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been jailed for six years and three months, while his wife has been jailed for six years and six months.

Anne Darwin, 56, was convicted of obtaining money by deception at Teesside Crown Court.

The jury found she had convinced insurance companies, a coroner and her sons that he had died in a canoe accident.

She had put forward the defence of "marital coercion", meaning her husband made her act against her will, but her claims were dismissed by the jury.

Mr Darwin, who reappeared five years after vanishing in the sea near Hartlepool, admitted deception.

Andrew Robertson QC, prosecuting, said during the trial: "The initial idea may have been John Darwin's rather than Anne's but it was a scheme in which Anne Darwin not only played an equal and vital role – but it was a role she played with superb aplomb."

Mr Darwin shocked police when he walked into a London police station in December last year claiming he had amnesia and could not remember anything since 2000 – two years before he went missing.

Five years ago an inquest into his disappearance following a canoe trip near the coast where he lived, recorded an open verdict and the case was closed.

However, three months before he turned up at the police station, officers revisited the case after being alerted to new information.