Britain's "back-from-the dead" canoeist in early prison release

Jan 18, 2011, 15:42 GMT

London - A British man who made international headlines by faking his own canoeing death in an elaborate insurance scam has been freed early from jail, reports said Tuesday.

John Darwin, 60, became known as the back-from-the dead canoeist after he emerged from five years in hiding in 2007, having conned the police, insurers - and his own sons - into believing that he died in 2002.

His wife, Anne, went along with the deception which the couple engineered to cover huge property debts. She played the grieving widow while keeping her husband hidden in a bedsit adjoining their home near Hartlepool, in north-east England.

They claimed in excess of 250,000 pounds (400,000 dollars) in insurance cash, sold their property and started a new life in Panama before Darwin handed himself in at a London police station in 2007, claiming he had lost his memory.

He was sentenced to six years and three months in jail in July, 2008, and has served about half of the prison term. Britain's Justice Ministry would not officially confirm the release Tuesday, except to say that all 'offenders subject to probation supervision' were entitled to be freed on licence on strict conditions.

Reports said Darwin was keen to make up with his estranged wife who is still in jail. She was given a six-and-a-half year term after her defence claim of 'marital coercion' collapsed.

Darwin, now reported to be penniless, was seen walking a dog on the beach near where he faked his death, newspaper reports said Tuesday.

Read more about Great Britain Justice

Read more about People