Fraudster who fled UK for Spain to be extradited

A fraudster who conned nearly £300,000 out of a vulnerable pensioner is to be extradited from Spain to face justice.

Pamela Gwinnett, 63, fled to Tenerife while on bail as she awaited trial following an investigation into her dealings with 89-year-old Joan Green, from Chorley, Lancashire.

Last October she was convicted and sentenced in her absence to six years in jail for theft and fraud by abuse of position.

Preston Crown Court heard Gwinnett plundered the life savings of the retired accountant when she became her carer as she controlled her finances and isolated her from her family.

Greater Manchester Police said Gwinnett had been arrested and would 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, Sky News confronted Gwinnett outside her seaside apartment on the island.

She denied stealing from the pensioner, who died in November 2022, and told them: "I don't need to answer these questions. Did I heck take the money."

Gwinnett flew to Tenerife in April 2025 just hours after a court application to vary her bail conditions to allow her to purportedly scatter her brother's ashes on the island was refused.

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 Green's stepdaughter and stepgrandchild including theft and neglect before she gained power of attorney.

Gwinnett used 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."

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