The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been found guilty of fraudulently claiming Ј250,000 after helping her husband fake his own death.
Anne Darwin, 56, convinced insurance companies, a coroner Canoe wife 'hurt' by lies to sons ...
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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.
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.
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.
(BBC)
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