Did canoe fraudster’s wife deserve prison?

I AM horrified by Jenni Murray’s defence of Anne Darwin, wife of the canoe fraudster (Mail). This woman was an accomplished liar who could have reported her husband at any time over years of deceit. What she did to her sons was despicable. Her husband John was a foolish and unpleasant man, but he wasn’t beating her and she didn’t have to go along with his insurance scam. To argue otherwise is to imply women have no free will.

GILLIE COGHLAN, Burford, Oxon. I AGREE with Jenni Murray that Anne Darwin should not have been jailed. It’s obvious she was bullied and coerced into breaking the law by her manipulative husband. Coercive behaviour was not recognised by the law or the public in 2008 when this case went to court. Today, she’d have been given a suspended sentence. But it was unforgivable to break the hearts of her two sons by wrongly telling them their father was dead.

M. SPRINGER, Reading, Berks. I AM amazed at the defence of Anne Darwin. She blatantly lied to her aged parents, father-in-law and two sons. She may not have been happy to do it, but she managed to carry on this sham for years. As a mother, I am horrified at her deception.

SANDRA GRANDITER, London NW11. ANNE DARWIN was fully involved in her husband’s deception, lied to their sons and her claims of coercion are nothing, but an attempt at self-justification. The argument that she should have been treated leniently because she is a woman is sexist and goes against the principle of equality before the law. KEELEY-JASMINE CAVENDISH,

London SE21.