My nan’s best friend claimed we were abusing her & stole £300k before vanishing… then a phone call changed everything

IT’S A story so wicked it could be a Netflix true-crime drama. Pamela Gwinnett, 63, befriended dementia-stricken Joan Green, 89, and gradually convinced the vulnerable pensioner that her own family neither wanted nor loved her. Joan Green’s grandson David Bolton, above with wife Rebecca, met cruel Pamela Gwinnett for the first time at the funeral of his nan’s husband Stan Credit: Claire Wood Photography Gwinnett’s campaign against dementia-stricken Joan, pictured with David, began in 2019, shortly after Stan died Credit: Supplied But Gwinnett’s manipulation was only the start of her sinister scheme. She was orchestrating a cruel plan which led to her stealing £300,000 from wealthy widow Joan, money she used to pay off her own mortgage, Botox treatments, lavish meals and a £22,500 car. Last week, Gwinnett was finally brought to justice, jailed for six years and two months after being extradited from Tenerife, where she had fled following her arrest in 2025. She was convicted of theft and fraud by abuse of position. “The Black Widow of Tenerife has finally got her comeuppance,” says Rebecca Bolton, 37, who is married to Joan’s grandson David. “Of course it won’t bring Joan back, but it is pleasing to know that she’s no longer living it up in the sun in Tenerife… she won’t be having Botox in jail.” Gwinnett’s cruel campaign began in 2019, shortly after Joan’s husband, Stan, died aged 90. In fact, it was at Stan’s funeral that Joan’s family, including her stepdaughter, Katherine Farrimond, 66, and grandson David, 42, had met Gwinnett for the first time. David recalls watching Gwinnett throw flowers onto Stan’s coffin, wondering who she was, and later being told she was their “new friend they’d met shopping at Morrisons”. But at that point, he admits he wasn’t unduly worried. “Nan was stubborn,” he explains. “She needed carers, but wouldn’t have them and would turn them away. We were focused on that.” However, during Covid, when Joan started to deteriorate, and it was clear she needed round-the-clock care, Gwinnett stepped up her campaign. She moved Joan out of her home in Chorley, Lancashire, and into a care home close to her own home in Adlington. “We were surprised when Nan said: ‘Pamela sorted it,” says David. “It made us uncomfortable, especially as [the care home] was opposite her own home and I couldn’t work out why she’d done it. But Nan settled in really well there so we left it.” The family continued to visit Joan regularly, but then Katherine, a civil servant, received the news that Gwinnett had been appointed joint Power of Attorney alongside her. “We were horrified,” says David. “We didn’t know why this woman Nan barely knew was getting so much influence.” However, Gwinnett wasn’t content with sharing the Power of Attorney, so she made a bogus claim to Social Services and her local MP, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, alleging that Katherine and David were stealing Joan’s pension, had pinched cash and neglected her, which led to them being temporarily banned from seeing her. “We couldn’t believe it when the call came that they were being investigated,” Rebecca, a tax advisor, remembers. “It was complete nonsense, and everyone was really upset. It impacted everyone’s mental health. We all loved Joan so much.” Weeks later, Katherine received a letter saying she no longer had any Power of Attorney – and all decisions were with Gwinnett. “Our fears were mounting that Joan was being taken advantage of,” Rebecca says. “We tried to visit her but were refused, with the care home saying: ‘The Power of Attorney doesn’t allow it’. “She also sacked a gardener who had worked at Joan’s home for years and was a friend to her and Stan and employed her own people.” As Covid lockdown restrictions were lifted, Gwinnett moved Joan back to her home in Chorley – but put a ring of steel around her, including padlocking the gates and changing the landline. Carers who visited the house were told in no uncertain terms that if Joan’s family turned up, to “refuse them entry”. Rebecca remembers: “She even told one carer that David had threatened to kill Joan, which was why we weren’t allowed in. “Joan would ask why we didn’t come and see her anymore… that makes us want to cry.” The family made repeated attempts to contact Joan during this period, turning up at the house and trying to call her; however, Gwinnett thwarted them at every turn. But in June 2021 things came to a head. David received a hushed phone call from one of Joan’s carers who was concerned about Gwinnett’s treatment of her. Gwinnett, 63, convinced Joan that her family didn’t love her before stealing from her Credit: Unknown Last week, Gwinnett was jailed for six years and two months after being extradited from Tenerife Credit: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire “She told us in a whisper that Pamela was meant to be caring for Joan for two hours a day but wasn’t,” Rebecca says. “On one occasion Joan had been left in her own faeces. On another occasion Pamela barked at her. “The carer was disgusted, but also very frightened as she was being bullied and intimidated by Pamela.” It was then that the family had come up with a plan to visit Joan on the carer’s last day. When Gwinnett arrived at Joan’s house, she was enraged that the carer had allowed the family in. “She berated us,” says David. “Her face was contorted in rage. She said to Nan: ‘He’s got lying eyes, Joan’. But I had the foresight to start filming her.” The shocking footage shows Gwinnett being confronted by Joan’s family, but she denied wrongdoing. The family then left when Joan became distressed and confused. In 2022, after viewing the footage, the Court of Protection deemed that Joan no longer had capacity, and Gwinnett’s Power of Attorney was suspended. Gwinnett made a bogus claim to Social Services and her local MP, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, alleging that Katherine and David were stealing Joan’s pension, had pinched cash and neglected her Credit: Unknown The couple were temporarily banned from seeing Joan Credit: Unknown However, this didn’t stop Gwinnett from stealing from Joan. Five months later, she opened a joint account in their names and transferred £119,000 of Joan’s cash into it, in addition to the money already taken. “We later learnt she used that money to pay off her mortgage, have posh meals, and for tweakments,” says Rebecca. “Joan and Stan were careful people and worked hard all their lives. It’s disgusting that happened.” Sadly, in November 2022 Joan died in a care home following complications after a stroke, just 11 days short of her 90th birthday. “We loved her so much and hope she knew that,” says David. “She was very strong-minded and family-oriented. I used to go for meals just with her, and I need to remember that, not just what happened at the end.” After her death, Katherine became executor of Joan’s will and gained access to her bank statements; it was then that the true extent of Gwinnett’s deceit and betrayal was discovered. Gwinnett had fled to Tenerife following her arrest in 2025 We loved her so much and hope she knew that, says David of his grandmother Credit: Claire Wood Photography Gwinnett was arrested on suspicion of theft and fraud, but was released on bail as police enquiries continued; however, she fled the country and flew to Tenerife in April 2025. In October that year, a trial was held at Preston Crown Court in her absence, where she was convicted. Judge Michael Maher told the court Gwinnett she “inveigled [her] way into [Joan and Stan’s] lives behind the charade that she was a benevolent friend.” It eventually took 16 months and the efforts of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Lindsay – the very MP whom Gwinnett originally tried to trick into thinking Joan was being abused by her own family – and Spanish authorities to extradite her via a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Two weeks after her arrest in Tenerife, Gwinnett arrived at Manchester Airport clad in leopard print and with her hair in plaits, where she was re-arrested and detained. Rebecca says: “It’s disgusting. She [didn’t] look in the least sorry for her actions. She even appears to be wearing designer sunglasses.” For Joan’s family, the sight of Gwinnett showing so little remorse for her actions was all the more painful. “It’s absolutely sickening that someone could do this to an elderly woman with severe dementia,” David says. “People only started listening at the end, but by that time we’d lost so much time with her. “I only hope she didn’t realise that her ‘friend’ was actually her worst enemy.”