BRITAIN:The wife of missing John Darwin was flying back to Britain last night to face her two sons, who said they had been left "astonished" and angry that their mother had let them believe their father had died in a canoe accident when she knew he was alive.
During a day of dramatic developments Anne Darwin's solicitor said her client had left Panama, apparently with journalists from a tabloid newspaper, after a photograph emerged showing her and her husband renting an apartment in the country five years after he was supposed to have died in the North Sea in 2002.
Mr Darwin, who walked into a London police station on Saturday claiming not to remember anything about the past five years, was last night still being questioned on suspicion of fraud in Cleveland.
During the day the couple's sons, Anthony and Mark, who both left their jobs in recent months, issued a joint statement saying they were "astonished" that their mother could have let them believe their father had died. They said they had been the victims of a "large scam".
A few hours earlier, a flatmate of Mark said the 31-year-old had fled in the middle of the night, leaving coded instructions for his girlfriend to get to the local airport. A spokeswoman for Cleveland police said officers had been in contact with Anthony during the day but had not heard from Mark.
Mrs Darwin's solicitor, Beth Anne Grey, said her client had left Panama late on Wednesday. "I didn't take her to the airport personally but I understand that she left," she said.
It was not clear when she was due to arrive in Britain but police at London-Heathrow said yesterday that they had not been informed of her arrival and there were no plans to arrest her.
In a statement released through Cleveland police yesterday, the couple's sons said they were hurt and angry after their mother admitted that a photograph showing her and her husband in a rented flat in Panama City in 2006, was genuine.
"In the short space of time following our dad's appearance on Saturday, we have gone through a rollercoaster of emotion," they said.
"If the papers' allegations of a confession from our mam are true then we very much feel that we have been the victims in a large scam. How could our mam continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive?"
The statement added that they had had no contact with their parents since Mr Darwin was arrested on Tuesday night.
Mark's flatmate described how the 31-year-old had returned to the shared house in north London in the middle of the night to clear out his room, leaving instructions for his girlfriend, Felicity Witts, and a notebook labelled "Instructions to Felicity".
The man, who did not want to be named, said many of the notes seemed to be written in code.
"It's got stuff about going to phone boxes and not telling people your name ... I think there were references to Panama in it. It had instructions on it.
"It was a really strange note, like someone writing something over and over."
According to local news reports last night, the police investigation was reopened in September after a colleague at the doctor's surgery where Anne Darwin worked overheard a series of suspicious phone calls in hushed tones.
After suspecting the calls were to her "dead" husband the colleague went to the police and the investigation was re-opened.
Det Supt Tony Hutchinson said: "There was some information which was reported to us three months ago to suggest that perhaps there was something suspicious with regards to his disappearance."
Mr Darwin, a former prison officer and teacher, went missing after setting out by kayak from near his home in Hartlepool in northeastern England. He was officially declared dead 13 months later.
Last weekend he walked into a London police station and told the desk sergeant: "I think I am a missing person." He gave police his name, address and date of birth but said he could not remember anything about the past five years.
Detectives said they always had doubts about the case and on Tuesday night police arrived at Anthony's house in Basingstoke, Hampshire, and arrested Mr Darwin on suspicion of fraud.
Six weeks ago Mrs Darwin sold two houses near Hartlepool and moved to Panama. When reports of her husband's reappearance surfaced at the weekend she claimed she was as surprised as anyone.
But when the picture emerged of them together in Panama City she admitted the deception and said she would return to Britain to "face the music".
"My sons are never going to forgive me," she said. "They thought John was dead. Now they're going to hate me. They'll be devastated and will probably want nothing to do with me again."
She added: "I don't want to live my life as a fugitive. I'll have to go back because I won't have any life here. But I guess my life anywhere is going to be pretty awkward now."
Police said they would continue questioning Mr Darwin until midday today