https://proudstars.blogspot.com/2016/01/squalid-life-of-canoe-man-conman-john_10.html
Squalid life of 'Canoe man': Conman John Darwin now lives in a tiny Manila room - selling underwear on his new wife's market stall
- John Darwin, 65, faked his death so wife could claim £679,000 insurance
- Tried to fake amnesia but was sentenced to six years, six months in 2008
- Married Filippino woman named Merdidita who owns market stall in Manila
- Pair wed in February and he helps her sell underwear and t-shirts at stall
John Darwin, 65, is said to make £138 a week in Manila, where he is living with his new 42-year-old Filippino wife
The British conman who faked his own death so his ex-wife could claim £679,000 is now said to be working at his new partner's market stall in the Philippines.
John Darwin, 65, is said to be making £138 a week in Manila, where he lives in a cramped apartment with his 42-year-old Filippino wife Mercidita, who he married in February.
In March 2002, the former prison officer paddled out to sea in a canoe at Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, before ditching the vessel to give the impression that he drowned.
He and his partner in crime ex-wife Anne, who both hid the news from their two sons, used the money to travel around the world and buy several properties in Panama, which he used as a base.
After a change in the country's visa laws, he decided to return to the UK in 2007 and tried to fake amnesia.
They were both convicted of fraud in July 2008. John was ordered to serve six years and three months in prison while his wife, who police described as a compulsive liar, got six years and six months. He moved to Manila after serving his sentence.
Now, the fraudster is helping to sell underwear and t-shirts at his new wife's stall, which sits next to a road choked with car fumes, a Sunday Mirror investigation has revealed.
'It is the dust and dirt... He is allergic to it,' his landlady Daisy Lavapiez, 67, told the Sunday Mirror's Jeremy Armstrong.
'He is nearly always upstairs in his room because of the air quality here, unless he is helping Mercy at the market. I feel sorry for him sometimes as he does not have a lot of friends.'
It is not known whether his new wife Mercy, who has three children from a previous marriage, knows of his past crime.
Darwin is said to spend most of his days at home but sometimes makes the five minute walk to Mercy's stall to help her sell clothes.
Because of the high level of pollution, he covers his mouth with a handkerchief as crowds of shoppers and locals walk the streets around him.
Because of the high level of pollution in Manila, Darwin covers his mouth with a handkerchief as crowds of shoppers and locals walk the streets around him
Darwin lives in a cramped apartment, similar to the one pictured, with his 42-year-old Filippino wife Mercidita
Darwin reportedly spends a lot of him time upstairs in his room in his home in Antipolo City, in Manila (pictured)
The fraudster married Mercidita (left) in February. Darwin and his ex-wife Anne (right) were both convicted of fraud in July 2008
The conman canoe man is pictured on the streets of Manila where he has started his new life with his new wife
He is said to not want to return home to the UK and is trying to save up to find a better place for him and wife Mercy to live
His landlady Daisy told the Sunday Mirror: 'He still gets his pension from the UK, and he goes to the shop to help Mercy sell her things in the market – but he always comes straight back.'
'He does like to kayak – he showed me some photos of himself doing it. He loves it, but I don't think he does it here. He likes the Philippines and does not want to go back to England.
He is said to not want to return home to the UK and is trying to save up to find a better place for him and Mercy to live.
Darwin reads from what appears to be a tablet as he sits with locals in the city of Manila this month
Darwin, who married his Filipino wife last February, helps her to sell underwear and t-shirts at her stall (pictured)
The shopping centre is situated among Manila's busy streets, which is packed with locals and vehicles
This is the outside of the run-down flat Darwin shares with his wife. An entrance to the property is advertising rooms to rent
The outside of the flat, pictured in between two Tuk Tuks, shows a number of small ground-floor and first-floor apartments
Darwin, 65, (left) is said to be make £138 a week in Manila, where he moved to before marrying Mercidita. The couple's wedding certificate is pictured right
His £138 a week pension is said to help him in the country where the average worker gets £192 a month.
His ex-wife Anne disowned him, blaming him for 'forcing' her to make a series of bogus insurance, pension and mortgage claims after his faked canoeing death in 2002.
Darwin was released on probation in January 2011. In 2013, Darwin violated his parole by making a trip to Ukraine to meet Anna Avramenko, 25, from a foreign brides website.
