A wicked carer plundered almost £300,000 from a frail widow then fled to Tenerife to escape justice (Image: Lancs Live/MEN Media)
A woman who conned a vulnerable pensioner out of almost £300,000 before fleeing to Tenerife to evade justice has been jailed for a further two months. Pamela Gwinnett, 63, fled to the Spanish island while on bail, boarding a flight just hours after her application to travel there to purportedly scatter her brother’s ashes was refused.
She was arrested at her apartment in Tenerife on July 14 before being extradited to the UK. Gwinnett appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday, where she admitted breaching her bail conditions. Last October, Gwinnett was convicted in her absence of theft and fraud by abuse of position after exploiting Joan Green, 89, from Chorley, Lancashire.
Pamela Gwinnett went on the run to Spain (Image: MEN MEDIA)
The court heard she flew to Tenerife in April, 2025 just five hours after her application to vary her bail conditions had been refused. She also failed to surrender her passport to police within seven days, as required under the terms of her bail.
Sentencing her on Monday, Judge Michael Maher said: “No evidence of a brother has ever been produced, much less that he passed away.
“This was a deliberate and sustained attempt to evade justice.”
In mitigation, barrister Rosalind Scott Bell said she had been instructed by Gwinnett to apologise to the court.
Ms Scott Bell said her client fled the jurisdiction because of “fear and anxiety” about being arrested and had also suffered from “poor mental health”.
She added: “She knew at some point she would be arrested and that’s exactly what happened.
“She was, and is, of the view that she is not guilty of the offences.”
Pamela Gwinnett arrested at Manchester Airport (Image: GMP)
Rejecting the apology, Judge Maher told Gwinnett: “Frankly your apology carries no weight at all.
“As I said in October, you have treated this process, as you did Joan Green, with utter contempt.”
The judge thanked the Crown Prosecution Service in Lancashire, Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency for their roles in securing Gwinnett’s extradition.
He also praised journalists for “keeping the case in the public eye and ensuring Pamela Gwinnett was held accountable”.
Gwinnett, of Adlington, Lancashire, plundered the life savings of retired accountant Mrs Green after becoming her carer, taking control of her finances and isolating her from her family.
When sentencing Gwinnett last October, Judge Maher said: “To you, Joan Green was simply a cash cow to be milked until she was dry.
“And so, having inveigled your way into their lives behind the charade that you were a benevolent friend to Joan, you set about playing the long game to isolate and control a vulnerable woman and thereby enrich yourself.
“There was in my judgment a self-assured shamelessness to your fraudulent activity, to use the colloquialism, you have some brass neck Ms Gwinnett.”
As part of the scam, she made a series of false allegations against Mrs Green’s stepdaughter and step-grandchild before gaining power of attorney.
She used the stolen money to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including buying a £22,500 car and paying for expensive beauty and Botox treatments.
Gwinnett has also been ordered to repay the money she stole.