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| Canoe wife 'maintained deception' | Canoe wife 'maintained deception' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The wife of canoeist John Darwin continued to lie to her family even after her supposedly dead husband reappeared, a court has heard. | The wife of canoeist John Darwin continued to lie to her family even after her supposedly dead husband reappeared, a court has heard. |
| Anne Darwin pretended to be overcome with emotion when told the former prison officer was still alive, Teesside Crown Court was told. | Anne Darwin pretended to be overcome with emotion when told the former prison officer was still alive, Teesside Crown Court was told. |
| The 56-year-old denies five counts of obtaining money by deception and one of obtaining property by deception. | The 56-year-old denies five counts of obtaining money by deception and one of obtaining property by deception. |
| Mr Darwin has admitted deception and will be sentenced later. | Mr Darwin has admitted deception and will be sentenced later. |
| The court has heard the Darwins' sons, Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, were kept completely in the dark by their parents' deception. | The court has heard the Darwins' sons, Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, were kept completely in the dark by their parents' deception. |
| In our submission, this was a woman who even at this stage, when the writing's on the wall, had the strength of character to keep to the original story Andrew Robertson QC, prosecuting | |
| Prosecutor Andrew Robertson QC told the jury that when John Darwin walked into a London police station in December last year, claiming to be suffering from amnesia, Mrs Darwin was living in Panama with assets of £500,000. | Prosecutor Andrew Robertson QC told the jury that when John Darwin walked into a London police station in December last year, claiming to be suffering from amnesia, Mrs Darwin was living in Panama with assets of £500,000. |
| "Of course, news of their father's return from the dead was immediately passed on to Mark and Anthony," he said. | "Of course, news of their father's return from the dead was immediately passed on to Mark and Anthony," he said. |
| "Needless to say, they were absolutely stunned. | |
| "They contacted their mother and - this says everything, say the Crown - on receipt of this news that her husband was still alive she pretended to be overcome with emotion, putting up a pretence that John Darwin, her long-lost husband, had returned from the dead. | |
| "In our submission, this was a woman who even at this stage, when the writing's on the wall, had the strength of character to keep to the original story." | "In our submission, this was a woman who even at this stage, when the writing's on the wall, had the strength of character to keep to the original story." |
| The jury was then shown a photograph of Mr and Mrs Darwin with an estate agent in Panama, reportedly taken in 2004. | |
| The court saw a photograph of the Darwins with a Panama estate agent | |
| In the days following Mr Darwin's reappearance this photograph was published in a national newspaper, the court heard. | |
| Mrs Darwin then changed her story, although continuing to insist that she had genuinely believed that he had drowned when she began making claims on the insurance companies, according to Mr Robertson. | |
| He said: "Because of the photograph, she said that after she began honestly making these claims he had suddenly turned up out of the blue on her doorstep in February 2003. | |
| "Members of the jury, this was a lie she persisted in throughout seven interviews with Cleveland Police in December last year lasting four-and-a-half hours. | |
| "She was able to stick to that story. This is the woman who would have you believe her will was overborne." | |
| Mrs Darwin has put forward an initial defence of "marital coercion", claiming her husband forced her to go along with his plan. | |
| John Darwin walked into a police station five years after being presumed dead when his canoe was found in the sea close to his home at Seaton Carew in 2002. | |
| A huge air-sea search failed to find any trace of his body, and he was later pronounced dead. | A huge air-sea search failed to find any trace of his body, and he was later pronounced dead. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |