14/12/2007

No Festive Cheer For Remanded 'Missing' Canoeist Couple

There is not much festive cheer for the beleaguered back-from-the-dead canoeist, John Darwin, who will now spend Christmas behind bars.

Magistrates have remanded the 57-year-old in custody after the former prison officer was charged with dishonestly obtaining £25,000 and making an untrue statement to procure a passport.

His wife, who has also appeared before Hartlepool magistrates, via video link, is similarly accused of deception.

Her husband was presumed dead in 2002 when his canoe was washed up on a beach in Hartlepool.

Since the disappearance Mrs Darwin sold the family home, in Seaton Carew and moved to Panama.

However, she was arrested at Manchester Airport when she flew back to England earlier this week and is now also to spend the festive season on remand in gaol.

The couple's sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, released a statement saying they wanted no more contact with their parents - who deceived them over their father's 'fatal' accident, and police do not believe the sons are suspects.

See: Police Granted Extra Time To Question Canoeist

(BMcC)

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07 December 2007
Police Granted Extra Time To Question Canoeist
Police have been granted an extra 36 hours to continue questioning a "lost" canoeist, who reappeared after being missing, presumed dead, for five years. John Darwin, 57, is being held on suspicion of fraud. Meanwhile, his 55-year-old wife, Anne, is believed to be returning to the UK from Panama.
17 December 2007
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Canoe Man 'Cried And Begged' To Come Home
The wife of 'back-from-the-dead' canoeist John Darwin has told Teesside Crown Court that he had cried and begged her to let him come home after staging his own death. Anne Darwin, 56, faces six charges of deception and nine charges of money laundering linked to insurance payments, in connection with her husband's disappearance.
05 December 2006
Fake festive fundraisers warning
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18 July 2008
Wife Of 'Back-From-The-Dead' Canoeist 'Breaks Down' At Trial
The wife of "back-from-the-dead" canoeist John Darwin has broke down in tears in court. Giving evidence, Anne Darwin said her husband "forced her" into telling their sons that he had died in a canoeing accident.