It started with small acts of apparent kindness. Pamela Gwinnett, then in her late fifties, began doing occasional shopping and light cleaning for Joan Green and her husband Stanley in Chorley, Lancashire. By the time Joan, a retired accountant, had reached her late eighties, Gwinnett had positioned herself as indispensable carer, close friend, and ultimately the person who controlled every pound of the elderly woman's savings.
She isolated Joan from her family. She changed phone numbers, padlocked gates, instructed paid carers to turn family away, and subjected the frail woman to verbal intimidation. False allegations of theft and neglect were levelled at Joan's stepdaughter and others, triggering official investigations that saw legitimate attorneys removed. In 2021 Gwinnett obtained power of attorney. She then helped herself to nearly £300,000.
The money paid for Botox and beauty treatments, lavish meals, a £22,500 car and mortgage payments on properties Gwinnett herself owned. Even after the Court of Protection suspended the power of attorney in 2022 and Joan moved into a nursing home, the theft continued. Joan Green died in November 2022, just short of her ninetieth birthday. She never knew the full extent of the betrayal.
To you, Joan Green was simply a cash cow to be milked until she was dry.
Judge Michael Maher's words, delivered in sentencing remarks last October, cut through any pretence. He added that there had been "a self-assured shamelessness" to the offending. "To use the colloquialism, you have some brass neck Ms Gwinnett." The judge made clear it was "an affront to justice and the rule of law" for her to remain at large in Tenerife.
Gwinnett had fled there in April 2025 while on bail. A court had refused her request to vary conditions so she could scatter her brother's ashes. She failed to appear, a bench warrant was issued, and she simply stayed away. In October 2025 Preston Crown Court convicted her in her absence of fraud by abuse of position and theft. She received six years, reduced by three months for lack of previous convictions.
What changed was patient work. Sky News located and confronted her outside her apartment in Los Cristianos back in March. She denied taking the money and insisted Joan's family were responsible. Greater Manchester Police, working with the National Crime Agency and Spanish authorities, finally moved in. On 16 July this year the 63-year-old was arrested. Extradition proceedings are now under way.
