The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe journalist David Leigh has detailed Anne Darwin’s response to the ITV dramatization of her notorious canoe con alongside ex-husband John Darwin.
The ITV drama is based on the shocking true story of the couple’s conspiracy to fake John’s death in a canoeing accident to make a life insurance claim.
The drama stars Monica Dolan and Eddie Marsan as real-life Hartlepool fraudsters Anne and John Darwin, and hit screens over the Easter holiday.
The four-part drama follows the pair in the lead-up to their fraud conviction after John attempted to fake his own death in 2002 in order to secure insurance money to pay off thousands of pounds of debt.
Anne and John eventually decided to leave Seaton Carew and move to Panama City to start a new life together, before the Mirror exposed the fraud with a now-famous photo of them smiling side by side in a Panama real estate office in July 2006.
At her trial Anne pleaded not guilty, arguing that she had been coerced into the plot by her husband, but the jury didn’t believe her and they were both jailed for more than six years.
Former Mirror journalist David Leigh flew out to Panama, where Anne was living when the con was discovered and he appeared on This Morning on Tuesday to discuss the media storm at the time.
He told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield of Anne: “She was being disowned by everybody and she was in my care. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
“It’s unusual to have a friendship with someone who you write a story about, but I wrote to her, gave her all the encouragement I could, and went to visit her.”
The deception took its toll on the married couple’s sons Mark and Anthony, who disowned their parents after the revelations, but have since reconciled with their mum Anne.
David said of this: “The boys went through hell, but what I say to people is, if they can forgive her then what does it matter what anyone else thinks?”
David continued: “Anne now has both boys back in her life. She has her four grandchildren. She lives a very quiet and anonymous existence. She’s obviously not enjoying this very much.”
Phillip then asked: “Would she rather all this went away?”
David explained that Anne often says she “doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about”, asking why there is still “all this interest” in the story.
David continued: “She obviously wishes this wasn’t happening but accepts she played a role in it and understands, to a degree, the fascination from the public.
“This story has been running now for 15 years and on it goes, so I think she’ll be happy when it’s over and she can get on with her life and spend time with the boys.”
The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe started Sunday, April 17 at 9pm and continues over the following nights at the same time on ITV and ITV Hub.
