Pamela Gwinnett, 63, was convicted in her absence and sentenced to six years in jail after she fled to Tenerife while on bail as she awaited trial. She’s now been jailed for an extra two months
A runaway fraudster who disappeared to Spain for 16 months has been handed an additional two months behind bars.
Pamela Gwinnett, 63, absconded to Tenerife while on bail as she faced trial following an investigation into her exploitation of vulnerable Joan Green, 89, from Chorley, Lancashire. Last October, she was found guilty by a jury and sentenced in her absence to six years imprisonment for theft and fraud by abuse of position.
Gwinnett was apprehended at her Tenerife flat on July 14 and was subsequently detained upon her arrival at Manchester Airport last week after extradition. She appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday, wearing the same clothing she had on when she touched down in the UK, after she admitted violating her bail conditions last year.
Gwinnett boarded a flight to Tenerife in April 2025, just five hours after her request to modify her bail terms to supposedly scatter her brother’s ashes on the island was rejected.
She also flouted bail conditions requiring her to surrender her passport to her local police station within seven days.
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 attempted to evade justice.”
In mitigation, Rosalind Scott Bell said she had been instructed by her client to apologise to the court. Gwinnett claimed she fled the jurisdiction due to “fear and anxiety” about being arrested and also struggled with “poor mental health”, the barrister explained.
Ms Scott Bell continued: “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.”
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 expressed gratitude to the Crown Prosecution Service in Lancashire and officers from Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency for their efforts in securing extradition.
He also commended journalists for “keeping the case in the public eye and ensuring Pamela Gwinnett was held accountable”.
Gwinnett, of Adlington, Lancashire, pillaged the life savings of the retired accountant after becoming her carer, taking control of her finances while cutting her off from family.
Earlier this year, a Sky News television crew confronted Gwinnett outside her idyllic seaside flat on the island. She refuted claims of stealing from Mrs Green, who passed away in November 2022, telling the broadcaster: “I don’t need to answer these questions. Did I heck take the money.”
Last year Judge Maher passed sentence in her absence. He declared: “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.”
During her con, Gwinnett levelled a string of bogus accusations against Mrs Green’s stepdaughter and step-grandchild, alleging theft and neglect, before securing power of attorney.
Gwinnett splashed Mrs Green’s money on a lavish lifestyle, purchasing a motor worth £22,500 and indulging in pricey beauty and Botox treatments.
Gwinnett has been commanded to return the funds she pilfered.
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