Panama fraudster John Darwin visits home town on day release.

SWINDLING canoe couple John and Anne Darwin are taking full advantage of being allowed out of prison as they prepare for their freedom.

John Darwin, who cameback from the dead in 2007, has even returned to the seaside town where he earned worldwide notoriety.

The 60-year-old has been photographed strolling around his former home of Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, on day release from prison.

Darwin, who previously lived at Witton Gilbert, near Durham City, has reached the mid-point of his six-year sentence for defrauding insurance companies after faking his own death in March 2002.

The pair fooled their sons into believing their father had drowned in a canoeing accident off the coast of Hartlepool when, in fact, he claimed £250,000 in a life assurance scam before fleeing to Panama.

His wife, a former doctor’s receptionist in Durham City, was jailed for six-and-a-half years after she was convicted of six counts of fraud and nine of money laundering, in July 2008.

The pair also claimed £84,147 from his prison service pension, £34,277 from his teaching pension and £4,273 from a Department of Work and Pensions pension.

Former teacher and prison officer John Darwin was sentenced to six years and three months in jail after he admitted deception charges.

Yesterday, people taking a stroll along the beach and promenade in the town were surprised to learn he had returned so soon.

Peter Barnes, from Hartlepool, who was walking his dog on the beach near where Darwin set off in his canoe, said: “I cannot believe that he has been back already; it just doesn’t seem right, but I am sure he will be popular if he returns full time.”

Tony Evans said: “It is quite strange that he is able to return to the town already – it doesn’t seem that long since he went to jail.”

However, Rachel Edwards, of Seaton Carew, said: “If he has served his sentence, there is nothing wrong with him coming back here.”

Anne Darwin is preparing for life on the outside working at an RSPCA centre on day release from Askham open prison, in York.