Anne Darwin, a once devoted wife from a small Teeside town, was today sentenced to six years and six months in prison, after being found guilty on all 15 accounts of fraud. Her pleas that back-from the-dead husband John Darwin had forced her to go through with his shameful money laundering scheme, fell on deaf ears.

Splash News were the first to track down Anne Darwin in Panama, USA, back in December 2007. Originally she was just a woman who was over joyed that her husband, who was believed to be dead after disappearing at sea five years ago, had walked back into a London police station still very much alive. 

But a simple missing persons case, would soon show Anne had in fact been in equal partnership with her missing husband and had embarked knowingly and willingly on years of acting in a bid to be rich.

In a plot to avoid bankruptcy, the couple spent years hiding mammoth amounts of debt that became as deep as their pitt of torrid lies. Hiding the truth from their own children and family, the duo planned to set up a new life abroad in America. Eventually the day came when John could no longer live in hiding and he planned to return to his old life, claiming he couldn't remember where he had been.

But this decision now sees the Darwins facing years in prison, after investigators unraveled an intriguing maze of evidence including private email accounts, detailed fraud plans and taped phone calls, showing how they mounted £250,000 worth of debt.

Although John Darwin pleaded guilty from the word go, he has only received 3 months less than his wife. He was sentenced to six years and three months.