Black Widow carer who stole £300k from frail UK pensioner arrested in Tenerife

Convicted fraudster, Pamela Gwinnett, now faces extradition from Spain to serve a six-year prison sentence after police arrested her on the Canary island of Tenerife. The 63-year-old, originally from Adlington in Lancashire, was convicted in her absence last October of theft and fraud by abuse of position for plundering almost £300,000 from vulnerable widow Joan Green.

Gwinnett fled Britain in April 2025 hours after a court refused her request to vary bail conditions so she could scatter her brother’s ashes abroad. Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Thursday that officers, working with the National Crime Agency and Spanish authorities, located and detained her. She will now return to the UK to begin her jail term.

Isolation of a vulnerable widow in Chorley

Joan Green, a retired accountant aged 89, who lived in a bungalow in Chorley, was dependent on Pamela Gwinnett, who had presented herself as a helpful friend who occasionally did shopping and light cleaning. By 2019 she had persuaded Mrs Green to grant her lasting power of attorney, giving unrestricted control over the pensioner’s finances.

Investigators established that Gwinnett then systematically cut Mrs Green off from relatives. She changed the landline telephone number, padlocked the gates of the property and instructed visiting carers to refuse entry to family members. False allegations of theft and neglect were made against Mrs Green’s stepdaughter and stepgrandchild, claims later shown to be entirely unfounded. One physiotherapist described the pensioner as living “like a caged animal”. Judge Michael Maher told Preston Crown Court that Gwinnett provided little or no genuine care and that Mrs Green had been frightened of her.

Savings were drained to fund a luxury lifestyle

Between September 2019 and Mrs Green’s death in November 2022, Gwinnett transferred a total of £296,173.68 from accounts built up by the widow and her late husband Stanley, a former senior manager at British Aerospace. Money paid for a £22,500 car that Gwinnett claimed was for carers to transport the pensioner, substantial mortgage payments on properties unconnected to Mrs Green, and repeated expensive beauty treatments including Botox.

Even after relatives successfully revoked the power of attorney in March 2022, Gwinnett opened a joint bank account to maintain access to the remaining funds. Judge Maher described Mrs Green as nothing more than “a cash cow to be milked until she was dry” and said Gwinnett had displayed “self-assured shamelessness”.

The family left without a proper farewell

Mrs Green’s stepdaughter Katherine Farrimond later revealed that her father and stepmother still lie in unmarked graves because Gwinnett obstructed the probate process. “One of the most upsetting things is that through her actions, Joan and my father are in unmarked graves,” she said. “Pamela Gwinnett manipulated Joan to steal her money. Despite all efforts from me, my son David and other family members, she spent her last years believing we hated her.”

Flight, conviction and final arrest

After her arrest on suspicion of fraud and theft, Gwinnett was released on bail. Within five hours of the court rejecting her application to travel, she boarded a flight to Tenerife. Residents near her apartment complex reported seeing her walking around openly and socialising in bars in Los Cristianos. She denied any wrongdoing when journalists confronted her outside the property earlier this year. Local residents in Tenerife have taken to social media to vent fury: Tracy says, “A journalist interviewed her outside the El Mirador apartments it was on the news in the UK. She obviously denied it. They should lock her up for 20 years.” Julie chimed in with “Monster. About time. Horrid person!”

Judge Maher sentenced her in absentia in October 2025 and expressed the hope that extradition would follow, calling her continued freedom in Tenerife “an affront to justice”. A proceeds-of-crime hearing has already ordered recovery of £300,000. PC Georgia Loughton, the officer in charge of the investigation, said the family can now look forward to a measure of justice as Gwinnett returns to serve her sentence.