Canoeist ‘lived with his wife at their home’
Dec 8 2007 By The Journal
JOHN Darwin spent much of the last five years living in the North-East with his wife, she claimed last night.
As police last night awaited the return of Anne Darwin from abroad, they continue to question Mr Darwin over over his astonishing disappearance.
Detectives have until late today to question the 57-year-old former teacher about where he has been since he vanished from the Hartlepool area in March 2002.
Anne Darwin, 55, who emigrated to Panama six weeks ago, will also be arrested should she return to the UK.
She has said she plans to come back to face the music and apologise to sons Mark and Anthony, who believed their father died in a canoeing accident in the North Sea.
Mrs Darwin is today reported as claiming her husband had lived for a number of years during his “disappearance” at their home in Seaton Carew.
She said he turned up at her door in February 2003, 11 months after his canoe had been found in the North Sea.
For most of the next few years he hid away in a bedsit in the sprawling property before the couple moved to Panama. As police began to probe their story, he flew back and walked into a London police station, claiming to have suffered amnesia.
Initially, Mrs Darwin expressed shock at the news her husband had walked into a London police station on Saturday, more than four years after he was officially declared dead, but subsequently admitted a photo, which apparently shows the smiling couple last year in Panama, was genuine.
Police took Mr Darwin to court yesterday to ask magistrates in Hartlepool to grant them more time to question him, after which Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood told reporters: “He is putting forward some sort of account.”
However, Mr Greenwood said he could not yet give any further details about what Mr Darwin had told police because it was “a complicated and protracted inquiry”.
The police were granted a 36-hour extension to question the suspect, and the detective said he would apply again for more time if needed.
Mr Greenwood said Mr Darwin was “calm” and “relaxed” during the brief, private court hearing.
The detective said the fraud suspect was aware of the coverage the case had generated, and knew of the photograph of him and his wife, but the officer would not comment on Mr Darwin’s reaction. His sons have tried to stay away from the media spotlight. Mark, who shared a flat in North Finchley, London, was reported to have left the house suddenly, while his brother has also left his home in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Police remain in contact with them, and a source said they were being treated as victims of the scam.
The sons issued a statement asking: “How could our mam continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive?”
Reports suggested former colleagues of Mrs Darwin, a doctor’s receptionist, heard her whispering to a man on the telephone who they suspected was her “dead” husband, and contacted police.
