Pamela Gwinnett, 63, was led away in handcuffs by Greater Manchester Police after landing at Manchester Airport on a Thursday. She had spent months on the run in Tenerife.
Police call her the “Black Widow.” Gwinnett fled to the Spanish island in April 2025 while she waited for trial on charges of theft and fraud by abuse of position. The case concerned Joan Green, an 89-year-old from Chorley, Lancashire, who lost about £300,000 of her savings.
How the scheme worked
Gwinnett cut Green off from her family. She accused Green’s step-daughter and step-grandchild of crimes including theft and neglect, and then obtained power of attorney. The money paid for a £22,500 car and cosmetic treatments such as Botox.
Green died in November 2022, before Gwinnett could be brought to justice.
Judge Michael Maher sentenced Gwinnett last year, in her absence, to six years in prison. “To you, Joan Green was simply a cash cow to be milked until she was dry,” he told her. He said she had pushed her way into the household “behind the charade that you were a benevolent friend to Joan” and played “the long game to isolate and control a vulnerable woman.” He added: “You have some brass neck Ms Gwinnett.”
Gwinnett denies wrongdoing. “I don’t need to answer these questions,” she once said. “Did I heck take the money.”
The escape and the arrest
After her first arrest, Gwinnett applied to the court to change her bail conditions so that she could scatter her brother’s ashes in Tenerife. The application was refused. She left Tenerife within hours of hearing that, according to the account of the case.
Greater Manchester Police worked with the National Crime Agency and Spanish authorities to find her and bring her back. PC Georgia Loughton, the officer in charge, said the result was “the culmination of a tenacious investigation.” She said, “We were relentless in our commitment to bring her back to the UK, where she will now serve her term in prison.”
Loughton thanked the NCA and Spanish police. She also spoke about the victim’s family. “Gwinnett’s actions have denied the victim’s family closure,” she said. “We hope some form of closure comes from this result.”
