Back-from-the-dead canoeist pleads guilty to fraud

At a hearing at Leeds Crown Court, Mr Darwin, 57, denied nine other charges of
using criminal property, while his wife Anne, 55, pleaded not guilty to six
deception charges and nine of using criminal property.

The pair are accused of fraudulently obtaining almost £250,000 during the
course of a five-year charade which began when Mr Darwin took his canoe out
to sea opposite his home in Seaton Carew in March 2002. Reported missing by
his wife, rescue services launched a massive air-sea search and discovered
his wrecked canoe but no sign of his body. He was pronounced dead by a
coroner the following year.

The mystery of his disappearance had long faded from the public consciousness
and might have stayed unsolved forever had he not walked into a London
police station on December 1 last year claiming amnesia and declaring
himself a missing person.

Mr Darwin was reunited with his overjoyed sons and relatives, while Anne, who
had moved to Panama City just two months previously, declared her joy at his
return. But it was not long before the deception began to unravel.