Pamela Gwinnett stole almost £300,000 from Joan Green, treating her as ‘her own personal cash cow’
A runaway fraudster dubbed ‘the Black Widow’ who fled to Tenerife is finally behind bars. Pamela Gwinnett stole almost £300,000 from vulnerable pensioner Joan Green, who lived in Chorley.
Gwinnett wormed her way into the retired accountant’s luxury bungalow posing as a carer who had the pensioner’s best interests at heart. She then set to work isolating frail Mrs Green from her loving family before plundering the widow’s savings, reports LancsLive.
She changed the locks on the gated bungalow and switched the landline, telling cruel lies about family members who tried to reach her. She used Mrs Green as ‘her own personal cash cow’, splashing out on Botox, lavish meals and a luxury car.
When she was finally arrested, Gwinnett fled to Tenerife in a last ditch attempt to evade justice.
After 16 months on the run, the 63-year-old finally appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court, dressed in the same leopard print bomber jacket she wore for her return to the UK.
Mrs Green’s grandson, David Bolton, said: “We are just relieved. We are very happy to finally see her in the dock and sent off to prison. It’s been a long time coming.”
Gwinnett’s barrister, Rosalind Scott-Bell, said the escape was driven by ‘fear, anxiety and mental health issues’.
But Mr Bolton said: “She has never apologised once. She’s shown no remorse whatsoever through any of this. Regards her anxiety, that comes with committing crimes and getting caught.
“She wasn’t that anxious when she was swimming in pools and getting her nails done, eating in restaurants and bars in Tenerife.”
In October 2025, Judge Michael Maher sentenced Gwinnett, of Greenfield Road, Adlington, to six years in prison for theft and fraud by abuse of position.
At today’s hearing he added an additional two months after Gwinnett pleaded guilty to a bail act offence.
Judge Maher said: “Despite the apparent difficulties with your mental health it seems you were sufficiently robust to travel outside the UK.”
He said Gwinnett had applied for a variation to her bail in order to scatter her brother’s ashes on the island, but the court was ‘rightly sceptical’’
“No evidence as to the existence of a brother has been produced, much less that he was deceased”, he said. On April 2, additional conditions were placed on Gwinnett, banning her from travelling abroad and ordering her to surrender her passports.
“On April 8, I was informed you had boarded a plane to Tenerife, about five hours after the court had refused your application. Despite the fact one of your passports had been returned to the authorities you used another passport in order to abscond from the jurisdiction.
“During your trial, although you were nearly 2,000 miles away in your Spanish apartment, you continued to besmirch Joan Green’s family with bogus allegations of impropriety.
“You apologise through Ms Scott-Bell for what you did. Quite frankly, your apologies stand no weight at all.”
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Speaking outside court, David Bolton said: “We are relieved. We are happy to finally see her in the dock and sent to prison. It’s been a long time coming.
“My nan unfortunately died under Pamela Gwinnett’s control. Hopefully she didn’t believe the lies that Pamela was feeding her.
“She’ll never get justice but we as a family can get on with moving on with the rest of our lives.”
Gwinnett was ordered to pay £350,180 to Mrs Green’s family during a Proceeds of Crime hearing. It is understood property has been seized in a bid to recover the money.
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