TEN years ago, this week, the “betrayed” sons of canoe fraudsters John and Anne Darwin came face-to-face with their mother after the couple’s lies were exposed.

Their eldest son, Mark Darwin, 32, relived the moment he was told his father was missing presumed dead at sea, telling Teesside Crown Court: "It crushed my world."

The Darwins' other son Anthony, said he had cut his holiday to Canada short following the news his father was missing.

He said: "I was in a state of shock, disbelieving, that he had been out in a canoe and this had happened."

He said he felt betrayed after discovering the year before that his father was alive and that his mother had known for five and-a-half years that he had not drowned.

The couple, of Seaton Carew, faked Mr Darwin's death in March 2002 when they were on the verge of bankruptcy and collected more than £250,000 in life insurance payouts. Mrs Darwin denied six charges of fraud and nine of money laundering and was on trial ten years ago.

Also, that week public services across the region closed as part of a two-day strike by local government workers.

Tens of thousands of North-East government workers walked out after backlash against the government pay policy.

The 48-hour strike was a protest over a 2.45 per cent pay offer, with the threat of further action if the deadlock was not broken.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said the North-East was one of the regions which suffered most disruption to services, while in other parts of the country most were unaffected.

And Durham Police were cleared by the Independent Police Complaints Commission after an innocent driver was killed.

A stolen car crashed across the motorway and landed on a Peugeot 306 while being pursued by officers.

The man died at the scene, on the A1(M) near Bowburn, in County Durham.

Ian Christon, from the IPCC, said: "The investigators have completed a thorough and independent investigation of all the available information.

"On the basis of the information we have seen, the IPCC is confident that the officers involved observed all necessary policies and procedures during the pursuit and the attempted stop of the stolen vehicle.”