Canoeist's 'widow' in early release from prison

ANNE Darwin - the wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin - has been released from jail, sources said yesterday.

Mrs Darwin was sentenced to six and a half years in prison in July 2008 after a jury found her guilty of six counts of fraud and nine of money laundering.

She was released from Askham Grange Prison, near York, yesterday just under two years and eight months after she was sentenced.

A car was seen driving out of the main gates of the prison at some speed at 6:45am yesterday morning.

Her husband, who was jailed for six years and three months after admitting seven charges of deception, was released in January.

The former prison officer admitted faking his own death in a canoeing accident to allow his wife to make fraudulent insurance and pension claims.

The couple, of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, embarked on a new life in Panama after Mr Darwin faked his death in March 2002 by vanishing off the coast.

The Darwins were jailed after Teesside Crown Court heard how they had deceived the police, a coroner, financial institutions and even their sons Mark and Anthony.

The former doctor's receptionist began the process of declaring her husband dead and conning insurers and pension funds out of 250,000. But her story collapsed after a photograph was found on the internet showing the smiling couple posing in a Panama estate agents.