Gwinnett, 63, was brought before Preston Crown Court after being dramatically arrested at Manchester Airport last week.
She had been at large after fleeing to Tenerife to avoid facing the court for her crimes against Joan Green, who she stole from while acting as an unofficial carer.
The court heard how she had fled the country after an application to vary her bail conditions, purportedly to scatter her brother’s ashes, was refused.
Judge Michael Maher said: “No evidence of the existence of a brother has ever been produced, much less that he had passed away.”
Gwinnett, formerly of Greenfield Road, Adlington, was convicted in her absence of fraud by abuse of position and theft after a trial last year.
The trial heard how she had used bullying, coercion and threats to steal £296,000 from Mrs Green, who died shortly before her 90th birthday in November 2022.
To steal from her, Gwinnett managed to get herself made power of attorney for the elderly Mrs Green.
She also changed landline numbers, sacked a long-term gardener and friend of Mrs Green’s and even made false allegations about her family neglecting her.
She had fled before her trial was due to take place, despite having had to surrender her passport as part of her bail conditions.
Judge Maher had addressed an empty dock when he sentenced Gwinnett to six years in prison for these crimes last October, telling her she had “some brass neck”.
At the time he had said it was an affront to justice that Gwinnett remained free.
But this week, Gwinnett, dressed in the same leopard-print jacket she had worn when she was arrested at Manchester Airport on the way back from Tenerife, stood in the dock.
She spoke only once, to confirm her identity, during the hearing.
Tanya Elahi, prosecuting, said that Gwinnett had been arrested in Tenerife on July 14 after having been at large for around 16 months.
She said she had pleaded guilty to breaching the Bail Act at the first opportunity.
Rosalind Scott-Bell, defending, said Gwinnett had avoided her trial and sentencing because of “fear and anxiety and burying her head in the sand.”
She said Gwinnett intended to appeal against her conviction and still claimed to be innocent.
But Judge Maher reminded the court that Gwinnett’s attempt to flee had been “a deliberate and sustained attempt to evade justice.”
Addressing Gwinnett, he said: “You have treated this process as you treated Joan Green with utter contempt.”
He said she continued to besmirch Ms Green’s family’s name from a distance during the trial, which he said he regards as “cowardly.”
Judge Maher said her attempts to apologise through her barrister carry “no weight whatsoever.”
He sentenced Gwinnett to a further two months on top of the six years she is already due to serve.
Gwinnett went down to the cells in silence and Judge Maher closed by thanking Lancashire CPS, Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency for their work on the case.
Judge Maher also thanked “those journalists who have helped keep this case in the public eye and ensuring that Pamela Gwinnett was held accountable for her criminal activities.”
Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Green’s grandson David Bolton said he and the wider family were relieved to see Pamela Gwinnett finally brought to justice.
He said the family was “relieved, very happy we have finally got to see her in the dock and off to prison.”
Mr Bolton said: “This has been a long time coming, but she’s finally where she deserves to be, in prison.”
He added that he hopes that his late grandmother “didn’t believe her lies” and regrets that she did not live to see justice done but that he is glad that the process is finally done.
Mr Bolton paid tribute to the officers involved in the case and to Judge Maher, an “amazing judge.”
He said in future the government needs to “pull their finger out” and make sure concerns about fraud and financial abuse are addressed before it is too late.
Mr Bolton said: “This is happening more and more, people do ring up, people do complain but nothing gets done.”
He added: “With regards to her anxiety, that comes from committing crimes and getting caught.
“She wasn’t that anxious that she wasn’t going to swimming pools or going to restaurants in Tenerife.”
Mr Bolton said he hoped the costs caused to the taxpayer by Gwinnett’s attempt to flee justice would be recouped from her.
