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| Canoe man 'begged to come home' | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin cried and begged his wife to let him come home after faking his death, Teesside Crown Court has heard. | Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin cried and begged his wife to let him come home after faking his death, Teesside Crown Court has heard. |
| But Anne Darwin, 56, told detectives investigating her role in a £250,000 fraud that she was minded to leave him where he was hiding. | But Anne Darwin, 56, told detectives investigating her role in a £250,000 fraud that she was minded to leave him where he was hiding. |
| The court heard she believed the fake death was a "ridiculous idea" and had urged her husband to "come clean". | |
| Mrs Darwin denies charges of financial and property deception. | Mrs Darwin denies charges of financial and property deception. |
| Mr Darwin has admitted deception and will be sentenced later. | |
| He vanished after his canoe was found in the sea close to his home at Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, in 2002. | |
| I knew it was stupid but, once I set out along the road, it was difficult to turn back Anne Darwin | |
| The jury was read transcripts of interviews between Mrs Darwin and police which were taken after Mr Darwin's reappearance and the couple's subsequent arrest last year. | The jury was read transcripts of interviews between Mrs Darwin and police which were taken after Mr Darwin's reappearance and the couple's subsequent arrest last year. |
| She told officers that her husband had pleaded to come home from his hiding place within weeks of his disappearance and how finally she relented. | She told officers that her husband had pleaded to come home from his hiding place within weeks of his disappearance and how finally she relented. |
| The transcript read: "I still had family staying with me. He was finding it hard. He was getting desperate. | The transcript read: "I still had family staying with me. He was finding it hard. He was getting desperate. |
| "He phoned me and gave me directions to where he was. | "He phoned me and gave me directions to where he was. |
| "I wanted to leave him there. I didn't want to go and pick him up, but I couldn't leave him. | "I wanted to leave him there. I didn't want to go and pick him up, but I couldn't leave him. |
| "At one point, he was literally crying on the telephone. | "At one point, he was literally crying on the telephone. |
| "I couldn't see him hurt." | "I couldn't see him hurt." |
| Mark (right) and Anthony Darwin were at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday | |
| The jury heard that after returning Mr Darwin lived next door in a bedsit in the property next to the seafront family home. | |
| Mrs Darwin told police that staging his death was "a ridiculous idea" and she had protested to her husband that they should declare themselves bankrupt. | |
| "But he just wouldn't hear it. He said we had both worked hard all our lives and he didn't want to lose everything he had worked for," the transcript read. | |
| "He was not violent, but could be very manipulative. | |
| "I used to say he treated me like a second year pupil that he used to teach. | |
| "From the day he came home, I tried to persuade him to come clean. | |
| "I knew it was stupid but, once I set out along the road, it was difficult to turn back." | |
| She told officers that deceiving their two son's Mark and Anthony Darwin had been "extremely painful". |