- Father of two has had surgery, but doctors warn it is likely to return
- He has been told it was caused by ?high ultra-violet sunlight?
- Darwin spent two years in Panama after faking his own death
By
Damien Gayle
05:31 EST, 13 January 2013
|
05:31 EST, 13 January 2013
Skin cancer: John Darwin in a 2008 handout picture from Cleveland Police. He is suffering from skin cancer related to his time spent in the tropics
Canoe conman John Darwin has been treated for skin cancer which he believes may have been caused by the tropical sun while he was on the run in Panama, it emerged today.
Darwin spent some two years in the Latin American country after he faked his own death by apparently disappearing in a canoe in the North Sea.
The father of two has undergone surgery to help overcome the illness, but doctors have warned him the condition is likely to reoccur, reports say.
They have told the convicted fraudster, 62, who was jailed for a million pound life insurance scam, that his cancer was caused by ?high ultra-violet sunlight?, according to the Sunday Mirror.
Darwin, who now lives in Hartlepool, told the Sunday Mirror: ?I do have skin cancer. I?ve had an operation. Did I get it in Panama? Well I?ve been told it was caused by intense sunlight.?
The former prison officer and teacher in 2002 conspired with his wife Anne to fake his own death and claim almost ?1million in life insurance.
A death certificate was issued after the empty wreck of a canoe was found in which he had been seen paddling into the North Sea near the family home in Seaton Carew, County Durham.
The couple?s grown up sons, Mark, 36, and Anthony, 32, were left heartbroken.
They were unaware their father was alive and living in a bedsit next door to Anne, 61, which could be accessed through a wardrobe.
Under the assumed identity John Jones, taken from a local child who died in infancy, Darwin travelled around the world planning a new life for himself and his wife.
The home in Seaton Carew where Darwin lived with
his wife: Darwin, who turned up five years after he was feared drowned,
was jailed for six years and three months after failing to convince
police he had amnesia
The couple bought a flat and land in Panama, where temperatures average 27C, and hoped to open a hotel and canoeing centre focusing on eco-tourism.
But in 2007 he returned from the country and walked into West End Central police station in London, claiming to have no memory of the past five years.
His lies were quickly uncovered after pictures were found on the internet of him and Anne posing for a photograph in the office of an estate agency in Panama City.
Hoodwinked: Darwin?s sons, Anthony, right, and Mark leave Teeside Crown court after their parents Anne and John were sentenced to over six years in prison each on July 23, 2008. They were not in on the scam
The fraud saw Darwin jailed for six years and three months and Anne for six years and six months. They were forced to sell everything they owned to repay the insurance companies and pension funds they had defrauded.
Now Darwin?s attempt to start a new life in the sun has apparently had another unintended consequence with his diagnosis of and treatment for skin cancer.
An unnamed source told the Sunday Mirror that doctors had told Darwin that his cancer is linked to the time he spent in the tropics and the failed-fraudster is convinced it is down the time he spent in Panama.
?He went to Panama to escape justice but he couldn?t get away from the sun,? the source said.
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Skin cancer is very common nothing to worry too much about.I?ve had it for years just get it cut out and checked often. zzz!
zen
,
Perth, Australia,
13/1/2013 14:31
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Wow ? there are some nasty spiteful comments here. The man ? in case you?ve forgotten the original story ? faked his death and along with his wife (who was just as culpable) went to live in Panama. He did this because he had lost all his money and was desperate. He served his sentence and as far as I can recall, the insurance company got most of their money back. No one deserves cancer of any kind and the article seems to have a ?well he deserves it? kind of bias to it, which I find disgusting. Shame on you DM.
- Lisa , BOURNEMOUTH, United Kingdom, 13/1/2013 13:1
Strange, not how I remember this man?s story if you are trying to rake up sympathy for him. As I understand it, it was sheer greed not lack of money that made him do what he did. Let?s not forget the suffering he and his greedy wife put their own sons/family through. But in your eyes no one lost out because it was only the insurance co. ? never mind that the rest of us paid through our premiums for any loss.
mog
,
down south, United Kingdom,
13/1/2013 14:28
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The sun can?t cause skin cancer,it is the best source of vitamin D which prevents and even cures many cancers.
Bartchops
,
Suffolk., United Kingdom,
13/1/2013 14:21
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Wonder how much he got paid for his chat to the Mirror?
Enough to buy a new canoe for when he gets out?
sd
,
uk, United Kingdom,
13/1/2013 14:05
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He may have done his time and paid back the money, but the hurt he caused his sons will never heal ? wicked man!
Fruit_Gum
,
Leicestershire, United Kingdom,
13/1/2013 13:57
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I don?t believe for one minute that the sons were completely unaware. At one point it was said they kept finding things like their father?s slippers in the house. Their mother apparently telling them she had kept them to feel ?close? to her husband. Yeah right. As for him getting skin cancer, sadly there?s no way of knowing for sure he got it in Panama but I?d like to think he did??..
sdewolfe
,
Nottingham, United Kingdom,
13/1/2013 13:54
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u dont get it so quick
free
,
bird,
13/1/2013 13:49
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Hartlepool nuclear power station is a mile from where he lived maybe he got it from one of the leaks from this power station which is built within a couple of miles of Middlesbrough, Stockton ,Thornaby, Billingham,Hartlepool hundreds of thousands of people and of course is perfectly safe.
peter
,
eastleigh,
13/1/2013 13:49
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I find it hard to believe that living in Panama for just two years gave him skin cancer. If it did then he must have a high disposition genetically for cancer. There are plenty of fair skinned people who grew up or worked in tropical countries for many, many years without suffering any problems at all?
Iberian Girl
,
Iberia, Portugal,
13/1/2013 13:48
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He was always too tight to buy anything I know .. I worked with him
Dirk.Diggler
,
Durham Uk,
13/1/2013 13:21
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Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261620/Canoe-conman-John-Darwin-skin-cancer-years-spent-run-Panama.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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