An unearthed interview reveals how Anne Darwin regrets lying to her sons over her and John Darwin's 'fake death' plan.
The couple became well-known after an investigation revealed that the pair had worked together in order to fake John's death and claim £250,000 in life insurance. Their story is now being examined in the new ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe.
In the interview, Anne expresses deep regret at keeping the secret from her sons Mark and Anthony. She claims to have desperately reached out to them in hopes that they would forgive her and their father for their deceit, the Mirror reports.
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The couple originally planned to make their escape to Panama, but John soon decided to hand himself into the police while feigning amnesia - he was eventually sentenced for his crime alongside his wife Anne. "After the truth came out that we’d been living in Panama together, I continually wrote to Mark and Anthony to say, 'I am so sorry. I really do love you.' But they refused to see or talk to me," she said in an interview with The Guardian in 2016.
"The first time I set eyes on them was at my trial when Mark was the first to testify against me. After he left the witness box, he only lifted his eyes fleetingly. I was totally shocked by how dark and full of anger they were. To see that was absolutely horrendous. It jolted me. I could easily have buckled then and there."
Previously, Anne had explained how John believed he could get away with the plot. "He was convinced he would get away with this story of amnesia, I never expected him to get away with it. I was just relieved the lies would be over," she said on a chat on ITV's This Morning in 2016.
"I am dreadfully ashamed of that, I should never have done it. I didn't have the confidence to stand up against John."
For her part in the fraud, Anne received six years and six months. She said: "I was given no indication that the sentence would be that long. It came as a shock. Yes, I committed the crime and I deserve to be punished. I wasn't prepared for that at all."
Anne is played by Monica Dolan in the ITV series.
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