THE wife of the back-from-the-dead canoeist arrested in Hampshire was remanded in custody today when she appeared in court accused of two deception offences totalling more than £160,000.

Mother-of-two Anne Darwin, 55, faced magistrates in Hartlepool charged with dishonestly obtaining £25,000 and £137,000 in 2003.

They remanded her in custody and ordered her to re-appear before the same court on Friday. No application for bail was made.

The first figure relates to a life insurance pay-out while the second covers a policy to settle her mortgage in the event of her husband John's death.

Yesterday her 57-year-old husband appeared before the same court accused of making an untrue statement to procure a passport and obtaining a money transfer by deception in relation to a £25,000 life insurance policy.

Mrs Darwin, wearing a cream-coloured woollen jumper, was accompanied by one female security guard during the brief court appearance.

She spoke only to confirm her name and age, replying ''yes'' to the clerk's questions.

The clerk read the two charges that Darwin faces. She is accused of obtaining a money transfer by deception of £25,000 on May 16 2003 by claiming that her husband John Darwin had been killed in an accident.

She is also accused of obtaining £137,000 by deception on May 29 2003 by claiming that her husband had been killed in an accident.

The tanned mother of two sat impassively as prosecutor Philip Morley opposed bail on the grounds that she might abscond.

He added: ''The Crown does oppose bail because if granted bail, Mrs Darwin may fail to surrender. We say this because she does not have a fixed address in the UK and she has strong links to Panama and she has money in offshore bank accounts, if she was minded to leave the UK.''

Defence solicitor Nicola Finnerty did not ask for bail and said her client would not be entering a plea today.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction and said the case was so serious it could be heard only in the Crown Court.

They ordered Darwin to be remanded in custody until Friday to appear before the same court via videolink.

Reporting restrictions were not lifted.

Police said they received almost a dozen tip-offs from the public after they issued a photo of Mr Darwin sporting a beard.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: ''Police today renewed an appeal for information from anyone who may have seen John in the five or so years since he was reported missing.''

He disappeared from his home in March 2002 and was presumed drowned after his wrecked canoe was found.

But as the days went by, it emerged the truth was somewhat more complicated.

Mrs Darwin initially claimed she was in ''total shock'' that her husband was still alive.

But it later emerged she had known he was not dead - and that he had been living next door to the family home in Seaton Carew for much of his disappearance.

Yesterday police released a fake passport photograph allegedly used by Darwin - in the name of ''John Jones''.

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

Detectives have been trying to piece together Darwin's movements since his ''death'' in March 2002.

Reports have suggested that he was living in a bedsit next door to his wife's home. He was arrested last week in Basingstoke.

The couple's sons Mark, 32, and Anthony, 29, released a statement last week saying they wanted no more contact with their parents.

They asked: ''How could our mam continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive?''

Police said the sons were not suspects in the case.