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| Canoe couple photo 'sums up case' | Canoe couple photo 'sums up case' |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| A photograph of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin and his wife Anne in Panama shows "two criminals" happy at fleeing the UK, a court has heard. | A photograph of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin and his wife Anne in Panama shows "two criminals" happy at fleeing the UK, a court has heard. |
| Prosecutor Andrew Robertson QC said the image demonstrated the case against Anne Darwin, as it showed a £250,000 fraud had been a "joint effort". | |
| Mr Robertson, summing up the case on Monday, said Mrs Darwin played her part in the plot "flamboyantly". | |
| The 56-year-old denies deception and money laundering charges. | The 56-year-old denies deception and money laundering charges. |
| Mr Darwin, who vanished from the sea close to his Hartlepool home in March 2002, only to reappear last Christmas, has admitted deception and will be sentenced later. | Mr Darwin, who vanished from the sea close to his Hartlepool home in March 2002, only to reappear last Christmas, has admitted deception and will be sentenced later. |
| They were in it together, this was a joint effort Prosecutor Andrew Robertson | |
| The prosecutor said the now infamous photograph of the Darwins in Panama four years after he disappeared showed they had been equal conspirators. | |
| He said: "It shows the two criminals in this case happy together in the land where they felt they were going to find some security away from the UK, each playing their own role, both equally guilty. | |
| "They were in it together, this was a joint effort." | |
| Mrs Darwin admits the frauds took place but claims her husband made her act against her will and was present each time an offence was committed. | |
| Mr Robertson said he accepted the original idea for the scam was Mr Darwin's but added that the defendant had failed to show the jury that she was overpowered by his will. | |
| He said: "It could be said he is responsible for getting her into the mess. | |
| "She quite clearly went along with it when she did not have to and, as such, she is equally responsible for the charges." | |
| The trial continues. |