'Black Widow' Caregiver Finally Sentenced for Keeping Elderly Woman Like a 'Caged Animal' and Stealing £300k Before Escaping to Tenerife

A FRAUDSTER dubbed “the Black Widow” has finally been jailed after being hauled back to the UK from Tenerife to face justice.

Pamela Gwinnett fled the country to a Brit holiday hotspot where she hide for over a year before The Sun tracked her down.

Pamela Gwinnett was arrested by officers at Manchester Airport Credit: GMP Gwinnett absconded to Tenerife and had been at a holiday home for the last year Credit: GMP Tragically, Joan died in 2022 after spending her final years being ‘bullied’ by the woman who was supposed to care for her Credit: MEN Media In a heartbreaking video, Joan’s family are heard trying to comfort her while confronting Gwinnett Credit: Lancs Live/MEN MEDIA

Fuming locals described how she was sunbathing and relaxing in bars in her holiday island bolthole.

from her “cash cow” Joan Greene and fled the country before she could be brought to justice.

She took up residence in her flat at a Brit tourist hotspot, with locals telling The Sun she spent her time sunbathing and drinking in bars.

, originally from Adlington, Cheshire, systematically plundered thousands from retired accountant Joan after setting herself up as the pensioner’s carer.

Gwinnett continued to steal money from Joan, 89, even after the pensioner passed away.

She was arrested for fraud by abuse of position and theft, but released on bail.

The carer applied for permission to fly to Tenerife, claiming she needed to scatter her brother’s ashes, which the court refused.

But five hours later, she was on a plane and .

Gwinnett continued to steal money from Joan, 89, even after the pensioner passed away Credit: Solarpix National Crime Agency officers escort her from the plane Credit: SWNS Gwinnett was living in a penthouse apartment in a sunny town on the south-west coast of Tenerife instead of being behind bars in the UK Credit: Supplied Joan with her grandson David Bolton Credit: MEN Media

In her absence, the cruel monster was sentenced to six years in at Preston Crown Court – and the Judge Michael Maher called for help from the public and press to bring her back.

Video footage shows the moment she was escorted by GMP officers from the Terminal 3 arrival lounge at Manchester Airport into a police van.

Appearing in court today, a judge added two more months to her six year sentence.

Judge Michael Maher blasted: “You have treated this process as you did Joan Greene – with utter contempt”.

The judge, thanking the press for keeping the case in the public eye, blasted the twisted carer as “cowardly”.

He said the twisted carer had “continued to besmirch Joan’s family” from Tenerife.

Joan’s grandson David, pictured with his wife Becca, told The Sun ‘we were all disgusted, she’d used nan like a piggy bank’ Credit: Supplied Gwinnett caught on video before she fled Credit: Supplied

The Sun previously revealed the fugitive was hiding in plain sight, flaunting her freedom by sunbathing and going to bars in Tenerife.

Fuming locals told The Sun they recognised Gwinnett from her mugshot – and are glad she has finally been dragged out, but wonder why it took so long.

One told The Sun: “It’s a small place, everyone knows everyone, and she’s always out and about.

“She’s very well known there.”

She was living in a penthouse apartment in a sunny town on the south-west coast of Tenerife, according to locals. It has since been locked up and the outside furniture taken in.

It is understood she also owns another apartment, which The Sun found on various holiday let websites priced at £112 a night – and it is booked solid until April.

The lavish seaside property has access to a pool, “stunning views”, a balcony, a big TV and a more than 8 out of 10 rating on a booking website.

But guests were seemingly cottoning on to who their host is – with some reviews naming “Pam” and one saying she is wanted by UK police.

The fraudster was sentenced to six years in prison Credit: Solarpix She fled to a new life in Tenerife where locals saw her sunbathing and drinking in bars. File picture Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

The host responded by saying the post was “slander” – and said “get your facts right”.

One British pensioner told The Sun he met her in a bar, saying she tried to rent him a plush flat.

But later he discovered her “devious, evil crimes”.

The 66-year-old from Leeds said: “She’s certainly not hiding. I see her swanning about town, sometimes with some bloke – definitely British. It’s disgusting.

“She’s living off ill-gotten gains after robbing that sweet old lady of her dignity and her family.

“Spanish police need to pick her up. How is she allowed to just sunbathe all day? It’s abhorrent.”

Another raging pensioner told The Sun how Gwinnett appears “very pleasant and quite attractive” on the island.

She said Gwinnett had been visiting the area for a number of years, but moved there full-time in April.

“It’s terrible that she’s done that to that elderly lady who has since died, and she’s just pottering about freely.”

Others fumed that the wicked 62-year-old is “knocking around bars” looking “very glamorous” and “dolled up”.

Neighbours say they contacted the police demanding to know when Gwinnett would be hauled back to face justice.

The Black Widow owns a £200,000 red-brick house on a sleepy residential street in the leafy village of Adlington, Chorley, in Lancashire.

Those in the quiet northern town told The Sun they never expected her to be capable of such horrible acts.

Gwinnett seemingly hid her evil intentions behind a friendly façade, all the while keeping the vulnerable OAP caged like an animal at her home in Chorley.

Residents well remember her “midnight flit” as she fled the country last year.

Another neighbour, hopeful that the Black Widow would be caught and prosecuted, told us that Gwinnett “deserves what’s coming.”

The carer had claimed she was the grandmother’s carer but isolated frail, vulnerable Joan from her family.

She accused family members of mistreating the widow and did everything she could to keep them away while she fleeced her “golden goose.”

The carer spent she stole from the “frail” 89-year-old on an Q2, expensive meals, designer clothes, mortgages and .

By the time Gwinnett’s was suspended, she had already stolen £161,000 from the pensioner – and continued to do so after her death.

A court heard that the last months of Joan’s life had become “pock marked with increasing periods of bewilderment and confusion.”

The gran became doubly incontinent, but instead of looking after the elderly woman Gwinnett “bullied” her, the court was told.

In a heartbreaking video, Joan’s family are heard trying to comfort her while confronting Gwinnett.

Joan can be heard asking what is going on in the background, as grandson David reassures her: “People are looking out for you nan, people are looking out for you. We have your best interests at heart.”

Heartlessly, Gwinnett removes his hand from Joan’s and tells her: “Look at those lying eyes Joan.”

David is heard saying: “This is wrong. There’s only one person who is in the wrong. Give us a love nan. Love you. It’s alright.”

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”.

: “We were all disgusted – she’d used nan like a piggy bank.”