Wife of canoe conman John Darwin reveals she considered suicide as she thought her sons would never speak to her again
Anne Darwin's sons testified against her in court
THE wife of a conman who faked his own death to claim insurance money has revealed she contemplated suicide - after her two sons cut all contact with her.
Anne Darwin and her now ex-husband, John, were both jailed for their outrageous fraud - which saw John hide out in a bedsit they owned, before the pair relocated to Panama after he pretended to drown in a kayak out at sea in 2002.
During the five years Anne - from Seaton Carew near Hartlepool - let her sons believe their father was dead, she cleared £700,000 of debt using insurance, mortgage and pension payouts.
Then, John returned to the UK in 2007, walking into a London police station claiming to have suffered memory loss.
But their luck ran out when a picture showing the couple, who married in 1973, in a Panama estate agent's office in 2006 was handed to the press.
Then, their web of lies rapidly unravelled.
In court, Anne attempted to prove her innocence using the defence of marital coercion - but her own sons testified against her, and she received a six-and-a-half year sentence.
She told : ";After the trial there was no contact from my boys and it was the only thing I was clinging on to.
"I got desperately low to the point of wondering whether life was worth living.
“I planned to take all my medication in one go. I had it all worked out.
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“I was at absolute rock bottom – it was like being dead to my sons when I was still alive. But I kept writing and somehow that kept me going.”
But eventually, her sons did get in contact, and they are slowly rebuilding their relationship - while John Darwin has started a new life with a stall owner 23 years his junior in the Philippines.
Anne also revealed she sought therapy while in prison, which led her to realise she no longer wanted to be with her ex-husband.
The grandmother-of-four is now telling her side of the story in a new book, "Out of my Depth" - which is released this week, with proceeds going to the RNLI and RSPCA, where Anne now works.
She said: “Both my boys have been very supportive about the book.
“Writing it has been traumatic but cathartic.
“After 37 years with John I feel free at last."