Who is John Darwin’s ex-wife Anne and where is she now?

ANNE Darwin is the former wife of canoe conman John Darwin, who was jailed in 2008.

Here, we look at her relationship with Darwin and her role in his disappearance.

Who is Anne Darwin?

Anne Darwin is the ex-wife of John Darwin, who faked his own death in a canoeing accident when he paddled out to sea off the coast of County Durham.

When prison officer and former science teacher John failed to report to work he was reported missing.

Later he was presumed dead by search and rescue as the wreckage of his canoe was found.

After the staged disappearance, Anne helped her husband to live in secret in a bedsit they owned next to the family house.

He would travel between the buildings using a hidden door, before moving back in with his wife in 2003.

The couple then planned to move to Panama in 2006 with John using a fake passport to live under the alias 'John Jones.'

However, changes to Panama's visa laws meant that his identity had to be verified by UK police in order for them to live there.

John's new identity would not pass this level of scrutiny, so in 2007 he walked into a London police station and claimed to have no memory of the previous 5 years.

Anne acted surprised when her husband reappeared and John claimed he suffered from amnesia but the police had been investigating Anne for a while.

A photo of the pair in 2006 was found, which indicted Anne had known about her husband all along.

She was found guilty of fraud alongside John in 2008.

The pair had been in debt and used the life insurance money from John's passing to pay the debts off.

When did John and Anne Darwin get married?

The pair began dating when they were 17 and four years later, John and Anne tied the knot.

The former couple has two sons together - Mark, the eldest, was born in 1975 and Anthony was born in 1978.

Former doctor's receptionist, Anne had let her sons believe their father had died and not involved them in the ruse.

Soon after John reappeared, the brothers issued a statement saying they no longer wished to have any contact with their parents.

The boys have reconciled with their mother since, with Anne later admitting that lying to her sons was “something that I will live to regret for the rest of my time”.

How long did Anne Darwin spend in prison?

Anne, described by police as a compulsive liar, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for fraud in July 2008.

She appealed against her sentence but her case was turned down by the Court of Appeal in March 2009.

Anne was given an early release from prison in March 2011, just three years after she was sentenced.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced that £500k in life insurance and pension pay-outs received by Anne had been recovered.

Are Anne and John Darwin divorced?

Throughout their time in prison, John made Anne believe that they would rekindle their marriage upon release from jail.

However, John desired to be with a younger partner and the two ended their marriage after 38 years together soon after they were freed.

John remarried in 2015 and moved to the Philippines with his new wife, who is over 20 years his junior.

Where is Anne Darwin now?

Anne now lives in York and lives a quiet life.

Her son Mark told the DailyMail: "Never, then, would I have ever dreamed I would be happily posing with my mother.

"What I have gone through to get to a stage where I can forgive has been tough.

"It’s taken deep thought and a difficult process of accepting her faults."