Good job he’s wearing a life jacket! Canoe conman John Darwin, 68, who faked his own death at sea returns to the water with his new wife, 45, as pair go for a dip in the Philippines

• John Darwin faked his death in 2002 by ditching a battered canoe in North Sea 
• He then hid in a room in his wife’s house and she claimed £500,000 in insurance 
• After being jailed for fraud he now lives with new wife Mercy in the Philippines
• The 68-year-old was pictured splashing with his 45-year-old wife in Mindanao 

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A fraudster who faked his own death in a staged North Sea canoe accident has been pictured returning to the water.

John Darwin, 68, donned a life jacket as he went for a dip with his 45-year-old wife Mercy May in the Philippines.

The former prison officer joked with photographers who captured him bobbing up and down at the Hinatuan Enchanted River in Mindanao, The Sun reports. 

Darwin (pictured with his wife Mercy May) has been spotted taking to the water once more as he donned a life jacket for a dip in the Philippines 

The conman – who faked his death in North Sea – was spotted with his 45-year-old wife taking to the water in a river 

One month ago they marked their fourth wedding anniversary, with Mercy writing online: ‘Happy 4th wedding anniversary my blue eyes your my everything I love you sweetheart.’

But another post outraged the British public two years ago when she declared the UK was the land of ‘free benefits, housing, school and doctors’.

The Filipina bride brandished a fake UK passport in the picture on her Google Plus account back in 2016, she wrote: ‘Yes! Got it! Who said I was banned! UK, land of the free, free benefits, housing, school and doctors, can’t wait to move with all the family lol.’

Darwin (pictured with Mercy May, left, and, right, on their wedding day) 

14 years after Darwin had pretended to die in a canoe accident so that his then-wife Anne could claim more than £500,000 in life insurance while her husband hid in a room at their home.

Both their sons believed he was dead after a 62-square mile search of the sea turned up only his battered vessel.  

He and Anne used the half a million to travel the world and set up a new life together in Panama City.

Mercy May sparked outrage with this post as she joked that she was going to move to Britain while she clutched a fake passport 

Darwin returned to the UK to hand himself into police in December 2007 after lasting just a few months in Central America.

After a change in the country’s visa laws, he decided to return to the UK in 2007 and tried to fake amnesia. 

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Convicted of fraud, he served half of a six-year prison sentence before marrying Mercy, who is from Manila.   

He met Mercy, a devout Catholic, and first travelled to the Philippines on January 1, 2015. 

Darwin (pictured) and his wife orchestrated a scam in which they took £500,000 in life insurance 

Just one day later they were engaged and they married on February 25 in a civil ceremony.

Shortly after the wedding she announced to her friends on Facebook that she was ‘in love’ with the conman as she posted a gushing message.

Mercy, who has three children from another relationship, wrote: ‘I love you so much sweetheart, your always my baby. 

‘Falling in love is easy, but staying in love is very special.’ 

She also posted a picture of Darwin on her account in November, with the caption: ‘He my baby handsome’. 

An investigation in 2016 found Darwin was selling underwear and t-shirts at his new wife’s stall in the capital of Philippines. 

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