This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/tees/7520803.stm
The article has changed 18 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Canoe wife guilty of fraud plot | Canoe wife guilty of fraud plot |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been found guilty of fraudulently claiming £250,000 after helping her husband fake his own death. | The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been found guilty of fraudulently claiming £250,000 after helping her husband fake his own death. |
| Anne Darwin, 56, convinced insurance companies, a coroner and her sons that he had died in a canoe accident. | Anne Darwin, 56, convinced insurance companies, a coroner and her sons that he had died in a canoe accident. |
| She was convicted of six fraud charges and nine of money laundering at Teesside Crown Court. | |
| Mr Darwin, who reappeared five years after vanishing in the sea near Hartlepool, has admitted deception. | Mr Darwin, who reappeared five years after vanishing in the sea near Hartlepool, has admitted deception. |
| Anne Darwin 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. | Anne Darwin 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. |
| In hiding | |
| The couple came up with the plot as they faced bankruptcy. | |
| In March 2002, John Darwin paddled out to sea near his home in Seaton Carew, then abandoned his boat and went into hiding. | |
| His wife raised the alarm after driving him in secret to Durham railway station and a huge air sea rescue operation was mounted, without success. | |
| She kept her husband hidden in the family home in Seaton Carew, then claimed insurance and pension funds. | She kept her husband hidden in the family home in Seaton Carew, then claimed insurance and pension funds. |
| The couple planned to start a new life together in Panama, but the plot unravelled when John Darwin walked into a London police station last December. | |
| She was found guilty of five charges of obtaining money by deception, one charge of obtaining property by deception and nine charges of money laundering. | |
| Both will face sentencing later. |