Get your news delivered straight to you by 7am - sign up to our new Morning Mail newsletter for FREESee more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ED HOLT Published: 18:18 BST, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 18:21 BST, 16 July 2026
A 'black widow' fraudster who conned an elderly woman out of £300,000 before she fled to Tenerife is set to be extradited back to Britain.Pamela Gwinnett, 63, fled to the Spanish island in April 2025 while she was on bail awaiting trial for her crimes against 89-year-old Joan Green, from Chorley, Lancashire.Preston Crown Court heard that the vulnerable Mrs Green's life savings were plundered by Gwinnett after she became her carer as she controlled her finances and isolated her from her family. Last October, Gwinnett was convicted and sentenced in her absence to six years in jail for theft and fraud by abuse of position but has so far avoided prison time.But today, Greater Manchester Police said Gwinnett had been arrested and will be returned to the UK following assistance from the National Crime Agency and the Spanish authorities.Lead investigator Pc Georgia Loughton said: 'We hope that the return of Pamela to the UK to serve her sentence gives Joan's family a sense of justice as they look to move on with their lives.'Earlier this year, a TV crew from Sky News confronted Gwinnett outside her picturesque seaside apartment on the Canary Island.She denied stealing from the pensioner, who died in November 2022, and told the channel: 'I don't need to answer these questions. Did I heck take the money.' Pamela Gwinnett (pictured), 63, fled to the Spanish island in April 2025 while she was on bail awaiting trial for her crimes Pictured: Pensioner Joan Green who was conned out of £300,000 by Gwinnett. Preston Crown Court heard that the vulnerable Mrs Green's life savings were plundered by Gwinnett after she became her carerGwinnett flew to Tenerife just hours after a court refused her application to vary her bail conditions to allow her to purportedly scatter her brother's ashes on the island.Judge Michael Maher sentenced her as if she was present in the courtroom last year.He 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 her scam Gwinnett made a series of false claims against Mrs Green's stepdaughter and stepgrandchild including theft and neglect before she gained power of attorney.Gwinnett used Mrs Green's cash to fund an extravagant lifestyle as she bought a car worth £22,500 and enjoyed expensive beauty and Botox treatments.Judge Maher added: 'I sincerely hope that Ms Gwinnett is extradited back to the UK to serve this sentence for these egregious offences.'It is an affront to justice and the rule of law for this defendant to be allowed to remain in Tenerife.'
