It was a bizarre true story that shocked and gripped the nation. After amassing crippling debts of £700,000 and on the verge of bankruptcy, former teacher and prison officer John Darwin decided to fake his own death in a canoeing accident in the North Sea.
He asked his wife Anne to cement the lie and claim £250,000 in life insurance. Then John lived in secret for years in a bedsit that adjoined the couple's home near Hartlepool - visiting his wife through a door that connected the two old properties.
After five years, the couple decided to start a new life in Panama. But when it emerged he couldn’t live or work there without having his identity confirmed by British authorities, he decided to turn up at a London police station, feigning amnesia, hoping he could return to his normal life.
