The two sons of John and Anne Darwin are being treated as victims and are not suspects, police said today.

Detective Superintendent Tony Hutchinson said Anthony and Mark had both been ''duped'' and had been treated disgracefully.

He was speaking after Mr Darwin, who was arrested in Hamsphire, appeared at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court today charged with making an untrue statement to procure a passport and obtaining a £25,000 money transfer by deception in relation to a life insurance policy.

The 57-year-old was remanded in custody until December 14 when he will reappear at the same court via video link.

Meanwhile at a press conference at Cleveland Police HQ in Middlesborough Det Supt Hutchinson said: ''We are speaking to the sons and we are in regular contact with the sons."

He added: ''Certainly as we sit here now there is nothing whatsoever to suggest that the sons of John and Anne are anything other than victims of this case.

''Of course, if that is the case, they have been duped in what can only be described as a really disgraceful fashion.

''They have been led to believe for the last five years that their father is dead. He then walks back into their lives with apparent amnesia.

''Certainly, if they were to be nothing other than victims, then our hearts do go out to them."

Cleveland Police today released the photograph from the fake passport Darwin had been using in the name of ''John Jones".

It shows a man with long hair, balding on top, and sporting a lengthy, greying beard.

Detectives appealed directly to members of the public and asked whether they had seen a bearded Darwin in the last five years.

''We need to know if anyone has seen John Darwin in the UK after his apparent death," the detective said.

Holding up the picture, Mr Hutchinson added: ''People may have seen him when he looked like this. They may have known him as John Jones.

''We need to know where both Mr and Mrs Darwin have been, both in Europe and North and South America.

''We need to know what they have been saying. We need to know who they have been with and we need to know what they have been doing."

Mr Hutchinson also revealed that Mrs Darwin, who is in custody at Hartlepool police station, kept very quiet while being taken back to Cleveland from Manchester.

She was arrested yesterday morning when a flight from Atlanta landed at Manchester Airport.

Mr Hutchinson told reporters: ''She was wearing dark trousers, a cream cardigan and a red coat. She was carrying a small holdall.

''As she expected, police were waiting and an officer based at the airport boarded the plane and arrested her on suspicion of fraud.

''She was then taken to the airport police station within the airport complex.

''Mrs Darwin underwent a medical examination to ensure she was fit and well for the 136-mile journey to Hartlepool police station.

''Cleveland Police officers then escorted her back to Cleveland. The weather in the UK was cold and wet and a far cry from what she has been used to over the past few months.

''During the journey back to Cleveland, Mrs Darwin was pale, drawn and very quiet - which is understandable.

''She had been told prior to leaving Manchester that the investigation would not be discussed during the journey. Mrs Darwin did not speak at all in the car."

As Darwin made his first appearance before magistrates, his wife was being interviewed by detectives in the adjacent building.

''The first of a number of interviews with her began this morning - at around the same time as her husband, John Darwin, made his first appearance before Hartlepool magistrates," Mr Hutchinson said.

''We are well aware of the stories that have appeared in the newspapers over the weekend and, in particular, will be discussing with Mrs Darwin the version of events over the past five years that have been attributed to her."

The detective stressed that the first the police knew of Darwin - now held at Durham Prison - being alive was when he walked into the London police station nine days ago.

Even though officers were investigating his wife's financial transactions, there was no evidence to suggest her ''late" husband was alive.

Mr Hutchinson also said he would be liaising with Hartlepool Coroner Malcolm Donnelly over the inquest he held in April 2003, which legally declared Darwin dead, to see whether any offences had been committed.