JOHN Darwin, the man who faked his own death in a canoe, has married for the second time, reports suggested yesterday.

The 64-year-old married Mercy May Avila, a Filipina woman in her 30s, in February following a whirlwind romance.

And it emerged Darwin is planning a return to Panama, the country he hid in after faking his own death.

The new Mrs Darwin wrote on social media: "I love you so much sweetheart your (sic) always my baby.

"Falling INLOVE is easy but staying INLOVE is very special."

The Mail on Sunday claimed that three months ago Darwin moved out of his semi-detached bungalow in Seaton Carew and it was rumoured he had moved to a flat in Hartlepool, but staff at a nearby cafe had not seen him for months.

Darwin's daughter-in-law confirmed he had remarried and told the newspaper: "It's his life. Let him get on with it."

He divorced from his wife Anne while they were both serving six-year sentences in prison for faking his death and claiming hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of life insurance.

He had paddled out to sea in a canoe, before leaving it to give the impression he was dead, but instead was living in a flat adjoining his wife's house.

They later moved to Panama but later returned to the UK. Mr Darwin turned up at a police station looking dishevelled and claiming to be suffering from amnesia. The couple even deceived their sons who had grieved for their father.