Pamela Gwinnett was arrested at Manchester Airport after her extradition from Tenerife back to the UK. The 63-year-old arrived in custody after failing to return to court in October 2025 and after a six-year prison sentence was imposed in her absence.
Gwinnett had been convicted of fraud by abuse of position and theft after swindling Joan Green out of nearly £300,000. Joan Green was 89, and Gwinnett had positioned herself as the retired accountant’s carer before manipulating her into granting Lasting Power of Attorney.
Her return closes one part of a case that had already moved through Preston Crown Court without her present. The legal route back into UK custody followed extradition from Spain, which meant the sentence, the arrest and the custody decision now sit inside the same case file rather than separate proceedings.
Joan Green and the fraud case
Gwinnett was instructed to repay £300,000 at a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing. The case centred on what Gwinnett did after moving into Joan Green’s life: she altered the locks and the landline phone number at Green’s gated bungalow, and carers said Gwinnett was “barking” at Green and neglecting her basic care needs.
A physiotherapist said Joan Green lived like a caged animal. Gwinnett also told Green that her family “weren't good enough.” Those details matter because they show how the fraud extended beyond money and into control over daily life.
Tenerife and the failed bail request
Gwinnett absconded from the country in April 2025 while awaiting trial for theft and fraud by abuse of position. She asked a judge to alter her bail conditions so she could travel to Tenerife to scatter her brother's ashes, then left five days after the request was denied.
That flight put her beyond the reach of the court when she failed to turn up in October 2025 and was sentenced in her absence. The case then moved into extradition work, which is the step that brings a defendant back to the UK when Spanish authorities and UK investigators secure removal from abroad.
Manchester Airport custody
Earlier this month, The National Crime Agency and Spanish Police secured her extradition and arrest. Her arrival at Manchester Airport ended the overseas phase of the case and put her back in UK custody, where the prison sentence now applies in practice rather than only on paper.
For Joan Green’s family, the consequence is that the woman who was said to have taken control of Green’s finances and home is now back inside the UK system. The remaining practical question is how the recovery of money will proceed after a hearing that already ordered repayment and after a conviction reached without Gwinnett in court.
