Fraudster who fled to Tenerife sentenced further

A fugitive fraudster who went on the run to Spain for 16 months has been sentenced to an extra two months in jail.

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

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

At Preston Crown Court Judge Michael Maher told Gwinnett: "As I said in October, you have treated this process, as you did Joan Green, with utter contempt."

Gwinnett was arrested at her Tenerife apartment on 14 July and was further detained on her arrival at Manchester Airport last week after extradition.

She appeared at Preston Crown Court in the same clothes she wore when she landed in the UK, after she admitted breaching her bail conditions last year.

Gwinnett boarded a plane to Tenerife in April 2025, just five hours after her application to vary her bail terms to allow her to purportedly scatter her brother's ashes on the island was refused.

She also ignored bail conditions to surrender her passport to her local police station within seven days.

Sentencing her Judge 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 said she fled the jurisdiction out of "fear and anxiety" of being arrested and also suffered from "poor mental health", said the barrister.

Scott Bell added: "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."

The judge thanked the Crown Prosecution Service in Lancashire and officers from Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency for their roles in securing extradition.

He also praised journalists for "keeping the case in the public eye and ensuring Pamela Gwinnett was held accountable".

Gwinnett, of Adlington, Lancashire, plundered the life savings of the retired accountant when she became her carer, as she controlled her finances and isolated her from her family.

Earlier this year, a TV crew from Sky News confronted Gwinnett outside her picturesque seaside apartment on the island.

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

Last year Judge Maher sentenced her as if she was present.

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 step-grandchild, 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.

Gwinnett has been ordered to repay the money she stole.

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