Darwin wife 'lied to save her skin'

Anne Darwin, 56, helped her husband fake his death in a staged sea tragedy and then cashed in insurance policies and pensions, Teesside Crown Court has heard. Even their sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, were kept in the dark, duped by the scam, the jury heard.

She denies six counts of dishonesty and nine money laundering charges, admitting the frauds took place but claiming "marital coercion".

The unusual defence means Mr Darwin, a former prison officer, from Seaton Carew, Teesside, made her act against her will and was present each time an offence was committed.

But Andrew Robertson, QC, prosecuting, told the court she did not inform police Mr Darwin was present when she bought £10,000-worth of Premium Bonds using fraudulently obtained cash. He said: "It shows unequivocally in our submission how she has lied to you and how she adjusts her account to save her own skin to try to run the defence before you."

The now infamous photograph of the Darwins in Panama four years after he disappeared sums up the whole case, Mr Robertson said. He said: "It shows the two criminals in this case happy together in the land where they felt they were going to find some security away from the UK, each playing their own role, both equally guilty. They were in it together, this was a joint effort."

Mr Robertson accepted the original idea for the scam was Mr Darwin's. "It could be said he is responsible for getting her into the mess. She quite clearly went along with it when she did not have to and as such, she is equally responsible for the charges."

Mr Robertson, summing up the prosecution case, said: "She played her part flamboyantly."

The case had racked Mrs Darwin's life, the court heard. David Waters QC, defending, said she could never have realised when she made a 30-second call to police to report him missing that it would end six years later in court and in the national headlines.

Mr Waters portrayed Mrs Darwin's husband as a bully and asked the jury to consider the effect of their 30-year marriage on her. The trial was adjourned to Tuesday.