John Darwin, Back-from-dead Canoeist, Pieces Missing Years Together

The back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin is “putting forward some sort of explanation” as to his whereabouts over the past five years, a senior detective said today.

Mr Darwin appeared this morning at a closed hearing at Hartlepool Magistrates Court, where police were granted another 36 hours so that they can continue to interview him on suspicion of fraud. He has been held at the Kirkleatham police station near Redcar, Cleveland, since Wednesday.

John Darwin is presently being interviewed, it would be fair to say that he is putting forward some sort of explanation, Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood told reporters outside the court.

This is a complicated and protracted inquiry and I would anticipate it will go on for a long time.

Mr Darwin, 57, disappeared on a canoeing trip in March 2002 and was declared dead the following year. But he walked into a Central London police station at the weekend, saying that he believed himself to be a missing person but was suffering from amnesia.

Police were given until 11.33pm tomorrow to complete their questioning of Mr Darwin, who was arrested after a photograph emerged of him and his wife Anne in a real estate office in Panama last year.

Mr Greenwood, who is from the Cleveland major investigations team, said that detectives were also keen to speak to Mrs Darwin, who has admitted she knew her husband was alive and had collected life insurance payments before moving to Central America.

She has now reportedly left Panama and faces arrest, as well as homelessness and the rejection of her own children Anthony and Mark, who have disowned their parents since the revelations this week.

Mr Greenwood said police are in contact with Anthony, 29, and Mark, 31, who are trying to come to terms with their parents’ deception.

Yesterday, Mark and Anthony accused their parents of making them “victims in a large scam” and said that they wanted no further contact with either of their parents. “How could our Mam continue to let us believe our Dad had died when he was very much alive?” they said in a statement issued through police.

Earlier today Mr Darwin was said to be sticking to his claims of amnesia even though his wife has admitted that the photograph of the pair in Panama last year was genuine.

A police source said: “Is he remembering anything yet? Clearly, when he sees the photograph of himself off the internet, he is going to have to come up with something. But the short answer is ’No’.”

Tag Cloud

External Information

Additional Information

Where Am I?