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JAIL TIME: Anne and John Darwin will each spend more than six years in prison. -- PHOTOS: AFP
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A BRITISH woman who helped fake her husband's death in a canoeing accident has been sentenced to 61/2 years in prison for her part in a daring scam that deceived even the couple's children.
Anne Darwin, 56, was found guilty on Wednesday of 15 counts of fraud and money laundering following a week-long trial that revealed the lengths the couple had gone to to secure more than £250,000 (S$667,800) in insurance and pension payouts.
Her husband John, 57, had disappeared after going canoeing in 2002 and was later declared dead, only to turn up five years later. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to six years and three months of jail for his role.
The duped sons - Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29 - were the real victims, the judge said.
Mr Justice Wilkie said the brothers' ordeal has so far lasted almost exactly as long as the sentences handed down to the parents, Britain's Times Online reported yesterday.
Detective Inspector Andy Greenwood said: 'They are devastated. I just hope that they can go away from the court building today and move on with their lives.'
The couple's scheme was born out of desperation of having become financially overstretched.
The sons turned against their mother at her trial, giving evidence on behalf of the prosecution.
The case of the 'back from the dead' canoeist has transfixed Britain since it emerged last December.
REUTERS
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