EXCLUSIVE: After our investigation exposed dodgy builder John Pembridge-Hore, another former customer got in contact to share new evidence that shows he may have lied about having a heart operation
A builder accused of cheating tens of thousands of pounds out of a customer by faking major heart surgery sent exactly the same hospital photos 640 days apart, new documents show. John Pembridge-Hore, 61, was first exposed by a MyLondon investigation featuring two families who claimed their builder ran off with their cash after failing to complete the work on their homes in South West London and Surrey.
Though we suspected Pembridge-Hore had been dishonest about his medical issues to an Isleworth family in June 2025, we could not prove it. But after reading our story, Jonathan Woods, 43, stepped forward with evidence that proves Pembridge-Hore already wheeled out the same excuses almost two years prior in September 2023, including photos of chest and leg scars.
It comes after we used Freedom of Information requests to verify Pembridge-Hore’s CV, revealing Oxford University had no record of him completing a PhD. Using reverse image searches and speaking to architects, we also showed he and his company Darwin Home Improvements had misled customers, including by claiming he built a Premier League footballer’s mansion in Surrey.
Pembridge-Hore’s registered company, Darwin Home Improvements Limited, dissolved without filing any accounts in July 2025, while another iteration, Darwin Home Improvements Ltd, dissolved in May 2023 after posting accounts with £1 at the bank. Pembridge-Hore, who also claims to be a war veteran and former Royal Marine, has never responded to our requests for comment.
Jonathan, from Earlsfield, told MyLondon he was left around £20,000 out of pocket after Pembridge-Hore disappeared in the middle of a kitchen renovation, leaving the rear of his house wide open over Christmas 2023. It cost Jonathan thousands to repair condemned work, and he has never been refunded or compensated by Pembridge-Hore.
“It was traumatic to be honest. He basically ruined my home,” Jonathon told MyLondon, adding that he decided not to report Pembridge-Hore to the police at the time as he believed his family was “in danger of repercussions” and did not want the hassle. Two families MyLondon have spoken to alleged harassing behaviour after Pembridge-Hore stopped working for them.
Like the other complainants we have reported on, Jonathan was drawn to Pembridge-Hore’s charm and confidence when they met in August 2023, along with a price that was not suspiciously lower than other quotes. But alarm bells started ringing when Jonathan shared a photo of Pembridge-Hore’s work with friends who concluded: “That guy looks like he’s dangerous [when it comes to building safely].”
Despite the issues, and an additional request for money to fix an apparent damp problem, Jonathan continued with Pembridge-Hore while trying to balance a busy work and family life. WhatsApp messages show Jonathan maintained a friendly relationship with Pembridge-Hore, who even joked “Drat!! You foiled my plan of dragging the job on endlessly” when asked about timings.
On September 4 2023, messages show Pembridge-Hore informed Jonathan of an operation, followed by three post-op photos sent on September 16. Over the next two months, the chat logs show Jonathan getting increasingly frustrated, with builders turning up for three-hour days, and Pembridge-Hore unable to manage the site because he claimed to have a blood infection.
Cooking off a camping stove with no hot water or heating as temperatures plummeted for the winter, Jonathan eventually pleaded with Pembridge-Hore to come back. But when the builder arrived at the property, Jonathan realised something was up.
“He came down and he looked right as rain,” said Jonathan, “You know, when someone’s been in [hospital], they’ve had sepsis and been in for a heart bypass. They don’t look like that.”
The chat log also show Pembridge-Hore claiming waste collection had been cancelled due to flooding, but when Jonathan contacted the waste company directly they told him there had been zero cancellations.
Caught out by Jonathan’s detective work, Pembridge-Hore replied: “I really can’t believe you phoned [the waste company] to check. They did actually cancel twice, and the reason they gave was flooding. If you don’t believe me, you obviously need to fund a builder you do believe.”
After this, a wall of silence came down, until, after persistent calls and texts, Pembridge-Hore claimed in a message: “Unfortunately I have run out of money, six weeks of being in hospital, and building materials rising very, very quickly has cost so much money. I am trying to get access to some money to continue with the build, ASAP.”
When Jonathan pointed out their upfront payments had been far in excess of the costs and labour, there was no explanation. Within a few days, Pembridge-Hore’s number became impossible to reach, leading Jonathan to write: “We assume from your behaviour that you have now no intention of fulfilling our building project.”
When Jonathan’s family tried to contact Pembridge-Hore through his wife’s business website, Jonathan claims he got back in contact “getting quite aggressive”. It was at this point Jonathan decided: “I don’t really want that kind of heat on the family.”
‘Preying on someone’s good feeling is unbelievable’
When Jonathan read MyLondon’s reporting on Pembridge-Hore, he was struck when he realised Peter and Ana Langenberg had received exactly the same heart surgery photos two years after him.
In Peter’s case, Pembridge-Hore requested another cash instalment in June 2025, then almost immediately sent the photos and videos of him in hospital before vanishing altogether. Jonathan’s evidence suggests Pembridge-Hore misled Peter and Ana, because the photos were not contemporaneous, as he had claimed in the messages.
The evidence casts serious doubt on Pembridge-Hore’s story to Jonathan. We know from our previous reporting that Pembridge-Hore resumed his work as a builder on another family’s home less than a year later in October 2024, then vanished again only a few months before meeting Peter. A doctor previously told MyLondon the scars and hospital setting looked real.
Reacting to the new evidence, Peter queried whether it was “a routine he has done before, that he copied two years later with us. It’s unbelievable. Preying on someone’s good feeling and feeling sorry for him to be in hospital.”
Jonathan added: “That’s his thing. Rinse and repeat. Do the same thing. Oh great, play on people’s heartstrings. Just basically run. Oh, it worked last time. Let’s do it again.”
Could he be prosecuted?
Rogue builders can be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006, for fraud by false representation, or under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, especially if police or Trading Standards are able to establish a pattern of behaviour.
But resourcing issues and communication barriers between different police forces and local authorities can make it difficult to spot this pattern and build a case quickly – investigating fraud is expensive and time consuming, leading to delays in victims achieving justice.
Pembridge-Hore’s explanation for the evidence is not known, and the prosecution would have to take into account any explanation he offers when deciding whether he can and should be prosecuted.
MyLondon’s reporting has identified three sets of complainants who were willing to go on record, but we have also been in contact with two other complainants who feared harassment from Pembridge-Hore if they agreed to tell their story. Police reports have already been filed with the Met and Surrey Police by three sets of complainants, but no one we spoke to had gone to Trading Standards.
The problem facing victims who have never been refunded (either directly by the bank or through a court order), is that Pembridge-Hore may have no assets that can be seized for repayment. Pembridge-Hore was previously renting a property on Kneller Road in Twickenham, but had only left a trail of bailiff visits and legal letters when we went to speak to him.
“The real problem facing the victims of fraud is the ability to enforce any judgment where it has not been possible to identify the fraudsters assets,” said Nick Brett, a partner at London based firm Brett Wilson. “By the time that criminal justice has caught up, the proceeds of fraud have often been dissipated leading to difficulties in the criminal confiscation process”.
Pembridge-Hore was approached for comment but did not respond.
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