Canoe man 'stole dead baby's identity to get false passport'

The "back from the dead" former prison guard is thought to have searched graveyard and newspaper records to find a name he could use after disappearing in an apparent sea accident in 2002.

Police believe Darwin, 57, finally decided upon John Jones - a baby born five months before him but who died five weeks after birth.

Scroll down for more...

John Darwin disguised as 'John Jones' during his missing five years (left), and as he was pictured after his 'miraculous' return (right)

Similar to the plot of the novel and film The Day Of The Jackal, Darwin is believed to have used the name to acquire a birth certificate.

He then allegedly used the document together with a black and white photograph of himself with a long beard to obtain the passport.

Darwin, formerly of Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, was declared dead at an inquest in 2003.

Scroll down for more...

Stranger than fiction: Darwin allegedly copied the birth certificate of John Jones to get a passport

The former teacher is believed to have used the passport in 2005 to travel to Gibraltar and Spain to view a yacht, and last year to visit Panama City and Costa Rica with his wife Anne, 55.

John Jones was born on 27 March 1950 at his grandmother's home in Sunderland.

He died from enteritis at the city's Hospital for Infectious Diseases. His family said they were appalled by the revelations.

Sister Frieda Woods, 55, lives near the cemetery where her brother is buried. She told the Daily Mirror: "It's terrible to think that this man may have used my brother's name in his scheme. I feel terrible, it's such a shock. When I heard John Darwin was using the name John Jones, I did think 'That's my brother's name".

"My parents always used to speak about John and told us he'd died barely a month after being born. He was premature and underweight.

Scroll down for more...

"In those days they couldn't do as much for babies like that. My parents are now dead but they never forgot him. John was their first-born, the eldest of nine."

Ms Woods's youngest brother Alfred Jones, 50, was warned by police his brother's name may have been used by Darwin. He said: "If that's what he did he's brought an innocent family into this and we're disgusted."

The son of river worker Alfred John Jones and wife Lily, the child was buried on 3 May 1950 in Sunderland's main cemetery.

Cleveland Police confirmed they were examining the use of the name John Jones in their inquiries.

Both Darwin and his wife are in custody while the investigation continues.

An unknown local makes a joke at the Darwins' expense