A FRAUDSTER dubbed “the Black Widow” has been ordered to sell her home to repay the money she stole from an OAP.
Pamela Gwinnett, 62, made off to Tenerife after plundering more than £300,000 from the woman she was supposed to be caring for.
Gwinnett nicked the money from retired accountant Joan Green, 89, after setting herself up as the pensioner’s carer.
She managed to persuade Joan to appoint her Lasting Power of Attorney.
She then spent money she stole from the pensioner on an Audi Q2, expensive meals, beauty treatments and Botox.
When Gwinnett was caught she denied charges of fraud and theft and fled to Tenerife – she was then found guilty in her absence by a jury at Preston Crown Court.
Gwinnett kept frail, vulnerable Joan caged like an animal at her home in Chorley, Lancashire, and tried to stop her family from having contact with her.
She also made false accusations against Joan’s family and changed the locks and the landline phone number at the OAP’s gated bungalow.
The evil carer managed to convince Joan that her family was stealing from her pension.
Tragically, Joan died in 2022 after spending her final years being “milked like a cash cow.”
Gwinnett then continued to steal from her even after her death.
By the time Gwinnett’s power of attorney over Joan was suspended, she had already stolen £161,000 from the pensioner.
She even managed to steal a further £119,000 by opening a joint account in her and Joan’s names and transferring Joan’s cash into that.
A court heard that the last months of Joan’s life had become “pock marked with increasing periods of bewilderment and confusion.”
Joan also became doubly incontinent, but instead of looking after the elderly woman Gwinnett “bullied” her, the court was told.
Joan’s step-daughter Katherine Farrimond, 65, said Joan believed in her final years that her family “hated her” and “didn’t want to see her’” because of Gwinnett’s “lies.”
Judge Michael Maher made a confiscation order for £350,180.79p, which Gwinnett must pay within three months.
He said that Gwinnett’s house in Adlington would have to be sold and that the time limit could be extended to allow completion of a sale, should it be required.
If Gwinnett fails to pay the money she owes, she will be liable to 42 months in prison in default of payment.
Judge Maher said: “This is a rare case where I am able to make a full confiscation order for the funds which were stolen.
“Unusually the available amount exceeds the proposed confiscation figure.
“Against that background I have made a compensation order to the estate of Joan Green.”
On October 6, 2025, Gwinnett was sentenced to six years in prison for her crimes.
She remains at large in Tenerife, avoiding justice.
