DC Portfolio: Canoeist Reunited With Wife

For my Darlington College portfolio I was asked to write several articles on a variety of topics in differing styles. Here is the first about a man from my town, Hartlepool, who was at the centre of an international media frenzy: John Darwin, the pseudocidal canoeist.



HARTLEPOOL’S very own dead man walking, John Darwin, was finally reunited with his wife Anne after their recent court hearing.

Mr Darwin had not acknowledged his wife of 35 years in their appearance at Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court, where further charges were being brought against them.

Both Mr and Mrs Darwin face multiple charges of dishonestly obtaining over £249,000 in life assurance and pensions.

Flanked by dock officers, it was only after proceedings had finished that Mr and Mrs Darwin shared what Mr Darwin’s solicitor, John Nixon, described as “a very emotional moment”.

Nixon added: “He loves her very much and saw her for the first time through glass as they were waiting to go into court.

“He told me later that he knew it was going to be emotional seeing her. He did not tell me what she said to him.”

John Darwin’s wrecked canoe was found in March 2002, leading to him being presumed dead a year later by Hartlepool coroner Michael Donnelly.

He reappearance on December 1, 2007 came just six weeks after his wife sold her Seaton Carew home in a move to Panama.


Although Mrs Darwin initially reported to the press her “total shock” after her husband’s return, a photo soon surfaced of the couple on website movetopanama.com. Readers of the Daily Mirror sent in their findings after typing “John”, “Anne” and “Panama” into the Google Images search engine.

Upon the Daily Mirror revealing this to her, she reportedly replied with: “Yes, that’s him. My sons will never forgive me.”

In the following weeks, it was revealed that Mr Darwin had been living next door to their family home, accessed through a hidden entrance behind a wardrobe fitted with a false back. Their two sons have, upon their mother’s confession, wished nothing else to do with their parents and consider themselves a victim of a scam.

The story has become both a local and national curiosity, resulting in several related pranks in the town.

Seaton Carew’s welcome sign gained national exposure on an episode of Have I Got News For You after a local man created an alternative and strapped it over the existing one, reading “Seaton Canoe - twinned with Panama”.

Hartlepool United’s mascot H’Angus the Monkey also got in on the jibes, turning the match day lottery winners board into a makeshift signpost for Panama.

During their most recent appearance before magistrates on January 9, the couple did not enter pleas.

The couple were remanded in adjacent cells in custody and are scheduled to appear via video link in court on Friday, January 18.