Carer Ordered to Sell Home After Fleeing to Tenerife with £300,000 Stolen from Elderly Woman
A manipulative carer who callously stole nearly £300,000 from a vulnerable elderly woman before fleeing to Tenerife has been ordered by a court to sell her home to repay the stolen money. Pamela Gwinnett, 62, was described as treating her victim, 89-year-old Joan Green, as a "cash cow to be milked" in a shocking case of exploitation that continued even after the pensioner's death.
A Calculated Scheme of Isolation and Theft
Gwinnett, who presented herself as a friend and carer to the widowed Joan Green, systematically isolated the elderly woman from her family while falsely accusing relatives of financial abuse. The court heard how Gwinnett discovered that Joan, a former accountant, and her late husband, a senior manager at British Aerospace, had accumulated significant savings through careful investment over their working lives.
Exploiting this knowledge, Gwinnett manipulated Joan into granting her lasting power of attorney within a short period of their acquaintance. She then proceeded to:
- Move Joan into a care home near her own Adlington residence during the Covid-19 pandemic
- Padlock gates and change landline numbers when Joan returned to her Chorley home
- Open a joint bank account to transfer substantial sums of Joan's money
- Continue stealing funds even after Joan was deemed to have lost mental capacity
Lavish Spending and Flight to Tenerife
The stolen funds, totalling approximately £300,000, were used by Gwinnett for substantial mortgage payments, purchasing an Audi Q2 vehicle, and funding expensive meals, beauty treatments, and Botox procedures. After being charged with fraud and theft, Gwinnett applied to vary her bail conditions in April, claiming she needed to travel to Tenerife to scatter her late brother's ashes.
When this request was denied, she boarded a flight to the Spanish island just hours later and has remained there since, earning the local nickname "The Black Widow" due to her reported interest in wealthy retirees.
Court Proceedings and Confiscation Order
In her absence, Gwinnett was found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment last October. At a subsequent Proceeds of Crime hearing, which she also failed to attend, Judge Michael Maher issued a confiscation order for £350,180.79, to be paid within three months.
The judge ordered that Gwinnett's house in Adlington must be sold to satisfy the order, with the possibility of extending the time limit if required to complete the sale. Should Gwinnett fail to comply, she faces an additional 42 months imprisonment in default of payment.
Judge Maher noted this was a "rare case" where a full confiscation order could be made for the stolen funds, with the available amount actually exceeding the proposed confiscation figure. A compensation order was subsequently made to Joan Green's estate.
Devastating Impact on the Victim and Family
In a victim personal statement, Joan's step-daughter Katherine Farrimond, 65, revealed the profound emotional damage caused by Gwinnett's actions. Due to Gwinnett's persistent lies, Joan spent her final years believing her family "hated her" and "didn't want to see her."
The court heard how Joan's last months were "pock marked with increasing periods of bewilderment and confusion," exacerbated by the isolation engineered by her supposed carer. Despite Gwinnett's barrister indicating an intention to appeal the convictions, the confiscation order stands as a significant step toward recovering the stolen assets for Joan Green's estate.
