'Black widow' fraudster who stole £300K from vulnerable pensioner arrested at Manchester Airport

A fraudster who stole nearly £300,000 from a vulnerable pensioner has been arrested at Manchester Airport.

Pamela Gwinnett, 63, has been caught by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) after she fled to Spain to evade justice.

The fraudster, dubbed the "black widow", flew to Tenerife in April 2025 while on bail.

She was extradited back to Britain after an investigation by GMP, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Spanish authorities.

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In October 2025, she was convicted for defrauding 89-year-old pensioner and former accountant Joan Green, from Chorley Lancashire, after becoming her carer.

She was sentenced in her absence to six years in prison and was later ordered to pay back £300,000 at a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

Arrested and escorted into a police van on arrival at Manchester Airport, she must now serve her sentence.

On Friday, Gwinnett also appeared at Manchester Magistrates Court in connection to previously failing to appear in court.

PC Georgia Loughton, the officer in charge of the case, said: "This result is the culmination of a tenacious investigation ensuring that we secured justice for the family of the victim at the centre of this case.

"Work to convict Gwinnett and her evading justice has been ongoing for quite some time. We were relentless in our commitment to bring her back to the UK, where she will now serve her term in prison.

"I would like to thank the National Crime Agency and Spanish police for their work with us on this case."

She was confronted by Sky News outside her picturesque seaside apartment earlier this year.

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Gwinnett denied taking money from the pensioner, who died in November 2022, saying: "I don't need to answer these questions. Did I heck take the money."

At her sentencing last year, Preston Crown Court heard how she used Mrs Green as a "cash cow".

Judge Michael Maher, sentencing as if she was in the room, 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."

Gwinnett used her ill-gotten gains to fund an extravagant lifestyle - purchasing a £22,500 car and enjoying expensive beauty and botox treatments.

She also made a series of false claims against Mrs Green's stepdaughter and step-grandchild - including theft and neglect - before she gained power of attorney.

Clare Meehan from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit said: "Since [Gwinnett] fled the UK, the NCA has worked closely with Greater Manchester Police and our law enforcement partners in Spain to secure her return to face justice."

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