Canoe scam wife 'lied to save her skin'

The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has been accused of lying to make the facts fit her complex defence to £250,000 fraud charges to "save her skin".

Anne Darwin, 56, helped her husband fake his death in a staged sea tragedy and then cashed in insurance policies and pensions, Teesside Crown Court has heard.

Even their sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, were kept in the dark, duped by the scam.

Mrs Darwin denies six counts of dishonesty and nine money laundering charges, admitting the frauds took place but claiming "marital coercion".

The unusual defence would mean Mr Darwin, a former prison officer, from Seaton Carew, Teesside, made her act against her will and was present each time an offence was committed.

But Andrew Robertson, QC, prosecuting, told the court she did not inform police Mr Darwin was present when she bought £10,000-worth of Premium Bonds using fraudulently obtained cash.

He said: "It shows unequivocally in our submission how she has lied to you and how she adjusts her account to save her own skin to try to run the defence before you."

Mr Robertson, summing up the prosecution case, said: "She played her part flamboyantly."

He reminded the jury how Mrs Darwin threw flowers on to the sea on the anniversary of her husband's faked disappearance, told a police officer when a body was recovered from the sea that she had wished it was John's and burst into tears, and told a police press officer she could not grieve without a body.

Mr Robertson said the defendant's stress visibly reduced once the death certificate was issued.

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