John Darwin had been driven by the pursuit of wealth for many years before he disappeared in March 2002, the jury in his wife's trial was told.

The former teacher, who briefly became a financial adviser for Barclays before joining the Prison Service to work at Holme House jail, Stockton-on-Tees, had moneymaking schemes that ranged from dabbling in the stock market to making garden gnomes and breeding snails.

Mark Darwin, Mr Darwin's older son, described his father as an entrepreneur who “was always coming up with something” while he was growing up.

He agreed with David Waters, QC, for the defence, that “the appearance of wealth is important to your father”, and in his statement to police, which was quoted in court, Mark described his father's personalised numberplate - B9 JRD, signifying “John Ronald Darwin” - as cherished.

“It was something he had in front of his car that he liked having there,” he told the court.

Mark's younger brother, Anthony, remembered his father as someone who “was always trying to earn some additional cash via market stalls and what-have-you”.

He purchased shares, and joked about buying property. “I remember hearing that he was buying a property on his credit card,” Anthony told the court. “I believe at the time the properties were rather cheap.”

By the time that he faked his own death Darwin and his wife had amassed a portfolio of 12 properties across the Durham area, which included 4 The Cliff in Seaton Carew, next door to their home at No 3. On Monday the jury was told that by 2002 the debts linked to these properties were mounting and the scheme to fake Darwin's death and claim the insurance and pension payouts emerged.

“Out of this dire situation the seeds of this fraud were born,” Andrew Robertson, QC, for the prosecution, said. He told the jury that Darwin had already pleaded guilty to fraud.

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