John Darwin disappearance case
2002–2008 British fraud case
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Key Takeaways
- The John Darwin disappearance case involved the faked death of the British former teacher and prison officer John Darwin.
- Darwin was arrested and charged with fraud.
- The fraudulent claim had allowed the couple to pay off their £130,000 (equivalent to about £270,000 in 2023) mortgage.
- Background John Darwin was born in 1950 or 1951.
- On 22 December 1973, Darwin married Anne Stephenson in Blackhall.
The John Darwin disappearance case involved the faked death of the British former teacher and prison officer John Darwin. Darwin turned up alive in December 2007, five and a half years after he was believed to have died in a canoeing accident.
Darwin was arrested and charged with fraud. His wife, Anne, was also arrested and charged for helping Darwin to collect his life insurance of £250,000 (equivalent to about £510,000 in 2023). The fraudulent claim had allowed the couple to pay off their £130,000 (equivalent to about £270,000 in 2023) mortgage. In December 2007, after it was revealed the couple had been photographed together in Panama a year earlier, Anne confessed to knowing Darwin was alive and revealed that he had been secretly living in their house and the house next door, which allowed him to receive the insurance money for his own use. On 23 July 2008, John and Anne Darwin were each sentenced to more than six years in prison.
Background
John Darwin was born in 1950 or 1951. He attended St Francis Xavier's Grammar School, Hartlepool and De La Salle College, Salford, where he studied biology and chemistry.
On 22 December 1973, Darwin married Anne Stephenson in Blackhall. Darwin then taught science and mathematics at Derwentside for 18 years before leaving to join Barclays Bank. He later became a prison officer at HM Prison Holme House.
Darwin and his wife, a doctor's receptionist, also ran a business renting bedsits in County Durham with 12 houses. They ran into debt after purchasing two houses in Seaton Carew in December 2000. The debts caused Darwin to talk about faking his own death to claim the insurance by early 2002.
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