Dear All
One of my favourite expressions is ‘up shit creek without a paddle'.
John Darwin and his wife Anne Darwin don’t have a paddle but are truly in the creek.
John, 58, did a Reggie Perrin and disappeared leaving his wife to claim on his insurance.
The two made a fortune and went on the run, very James Bond of them.
John Darwin was jailed in July 2008 for six years for deception and his wife Anne Darwin was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering.
Their scam in which they deceived the police, a coroner, financial institutions and their two sons was that John Darwin had drowned while canoeing in the North Sea.
In fact he was camped out next door in a flat. After lying low for a while they done a runner to Panama and were photographed in a timeshare advert.
This was spotted by others!
So, In November 2007 he returned backed to the UK, telling police he was a missing person with amnesia.
This might have worked if not for the picture of him and his wife.
He blew it big style!
Now the couple have to pay back nearly £600,000 or face another three years on top of their sentence.
This works out at about £100,000 a year.
It may be a long time before John Darwin sits again in a canoe, if he decides to opt to keep the money.
This is a case, I have followed on and off over the years, I personally think the sentences are too harsh but I would recover the money under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
At their age, I would have given them community service and probation.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
One of my favourite expressions is ‘up shit creek without a paddle'.
John Darwin and his wife Anne Darwin don’t have a paddle but are truly in the creek.
John, 58, did a Reggie Perrin and disappeared leaving his wife to claim on his insurance.
The two made a fortune and went on the run, very James Bond of them.
John Darwin was jailed in July 2008 for six years for deception and his wife Anne Darwin was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering.
Their scam in which they deceived the police, a coroner, financial institutions and their two sons was that John Darwin had drowned while canoeing in the North Sea.
In fact he was camped out next door in a flat. After lying low for a while they done a runner to Panama and were photographed in a timeshare advert.
This was spotted by others!
So, In November 2007 he returned backed to the UK, telling police he was a missing person with amnesia.
This might have worked if not for the picture of him and his wife.
He blew it big style!
Now the couple have to pay back nearly £600,000 or face another three years on top of their sentence.
This works out at about £100,000 a year.
It may be a long time before John Darwin sits again in a canoe, if he decides to opt to keep the money.
This is a case, I have followed on and off over the years, I personally think the sentences are too harsh but I would recover the money under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
At their age, I would have given them community service and probation.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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