LONDON – "Back-from-the-dead" canoeist John Darwin was assaulted in jail after another inmate recognised him as a former prison warder, according to SKY News.
The 58 year old was jailed in July for six years and three months after admitting faking his own death in a canoeing accident to allow his wife, Anne, to make fraudulent insurance and pension claims.
The attack took place because Darwin used to work as a warder at Holme House prison in Stockton, according to the Hartlepool Mail. He was reportedly punched several times in the face and nose by a fellow prisoner, just days after he was transferred to Everthorpe jail on September 7.
A prison source told the paper: "After a paedophile, the next worst thing to be in prison is an ex-screw.
"He is always going to be an easy target for attack."
John Darwin faked his death in 2002 in the sea close to the home he shared with his wife near Hartlepool. The couple fled to Panamaonce Mrs. Darwin fraudulently claimed her husband’s life insurance money.
She also cashed in the couple's 12-home property portfolio and had set about making a new life in Central America when her husband suddenly handed himself in at a London police station in November last year. His claims to be suffering amnesia did not stand up to the huge international scrutiny.
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