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John and Anne Darwin jailed John Darwin, the man who reappeared five years after apparently dying in a canoe accident, and his wife Anne have been jailed today. Mr Darwin was sentenced to six years and three months in prison, while Mrs Darwin was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars. Earlier, Mrs Darwin was found guilty of obtaining money by deception. She was accused of being involved in a £250,000 fraud with her husband but denied the six dishonesty charges and nine counts of money laundering. A jury at Teesside crown court on Wednesday, however, found the 56-year-old guilty of all 15 charges. Mr Darwin had earlier admitted deception. Last year he walked into a London police station, five years after he was presumed dead after his canoe was found close to his home at Seaton Carew in 2002. Anne Darwin claimed during her trail that her husband had forced her into joining the plot to fake his death. She claimed he forced her to act against her will and was bullied to a point where she could no longer stand up to him. The case hit the headlines last year after a picture came to light of the couple with an estate agent in Panama dating from 2004, two years after Mr Darwin was pronounced dead. During Mrs Darwin's trial, the couple's sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, gave evidence for the prosecution describing their dismay at finding out their mother had lied to them about their father's death. Mark told the court that he "couldn't believe" what had happened, claiming that it had "crushed his world" when he was told his father had died. Speaking outside the court this afternoon Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood described Mrs Darwin as a "compulsive liar". He said that the way the Darwins' sons had been treated was "absolutely appalling". DI Greenwood added that if the photo of the couple in Panama had never come to light it may well have been impossible to ever convict them. In handing down the sentences today, the presiding judge told the Darwins that the real victims were Mark and Anthony, "whose lives you crushed".  23 July 2008, 12:49 |
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