Welcome to the site!

Please note that although Mr Pengelly also works with illnesses other than cancer, with animals and as a medium, I intend to deal principally with his illegal cancer-related claims.  I shall also touch upon other matters not directly connected with his "healing" but which shed light on his claim to be honest and ethical. 

This is the story of how Adrian Pengelly, a self-styled New Age "healer" currently living near Leominster, ended up pleading guilty to three charges under the Cancer Act of 1939.  Mr Pengelly was conspicuous by his absence from Hereford Magistrates Court on 12th March 2010 when he was ordered to pay £2000.48 in costs, a £600 fine and a £15 victim surchage. 

The day before he was due to appear in court Mr Pengelly's website - www.adrianpengelly.co.uk - underwent some drastic changes.  The actionable material was removed and the following paragraphs (amongst others) appeared:

"It is well known that for the last seventeen years I have dedicated my life to helping others. I have become world famous, both for my results and for my approach, and have treated over twenty thousand people during that time. At all times, my healing work has been conducted with honesty, integrity and the highest possible ethics. There have been no complaints.

Sadly, my work has attracted the attention of three disturbed individuals who have never been treated by me, but who have decided that they need to stop my work. Each has their own agenda, and neither seems to know what the other is doing. If they did, they would surely not continue. They have dedicated their lives to destroying me, and it is their complaints only that have brought this court action.

Threats of violence and intimidation towards myself, my friends and my family and anyone who supports me, have now become routine from these people. Their lies are well known. And all this because I am a healer."

Mr Pengelly has not been a full-time "healer" for 17 years.

He is NOT world-famous.  When I began to investigate his claims a Google search of his name turned up only a handful of references, two of which revealed that he lies about his education and ancestry (more about "Sir" Adrian Pengelly later...)

If Mr Pengelly has had no complaints it could be because he doesn't appear to check up on supposedly cured cancer patients to make sure they are still cancer-free, or indeed still alive.  Dead people tend not to complain.  Sadly, many people who undergo worthless alternative treatment and are dissatisfied with the results don't complain because they feel ashamed of being taken in by quacks.  Other alternatives are that the patient's cancer was self-diagnosed, or wrongly diagnosed by a doctor, and they didn't have cancer in the first place; or that the patient continued to receive mainstream medical treatment but chose to give the credit for a successful outcome to Mr Pengelly's ministrations.  The cancer patients whose testimonials formerly appeared on Mr Pengelly's website were identified only by their initials and have not come forward to support the man who supposedly saved their lives; until they do (and provide their medical records) we have no good reason to believe that they even exist. 

My "lies" are not well-known for the simple reason that I haven't told any.  Everything I've written about Mr Pengelly has been scrupulously researched.  On one occasion an informant supplied me with a very minor piece of information (not connected with cancer treatment) that turned out to be wrong, and the mistake was corrected immediately.  Unfortunately the results of my investigation aren't well-known because not a single local or national newspaper has published them.  Unlike Mr Pengelly, I can't afford to pay a PR company to place a totally uncritical article in the "Daily Mail".

I'm proud to be one of the "three disturbed individuals" who helped to bring Mr Pengelly's illegal claims to the attention of Hereford Trading Standards and BBC Watchdog.  I freely admit to being "disturbed" by the contents of Mr Pengelly's original website, which was a mass of illegal offers from a medically unqualified person to treat cancer, worthless anecdotes disguised as patient testimonials and pseudo-scientific gibberish.  However, at no time did I approach Mr Pengelly or his associates directly, let alone threaten anyone with violence - nor did any of the other "disturbed individuals" who have done their utmost to stop this man before his treatment kills someone.  Since the only rational response to such threats is to report them to the police, I hope Mr Pengelly and his friends did so...assuming that they received any in the first place, of course.

And NO, Mr Pengelly, you didn't end up on the wrong side of the law because you are a "healer".  You had the opportunity to remove the actionable material from your site in April 2009, when the worst thing that could have happened to you was a warning from Hereford Trading Standards.  For reasons best known to yourself you chose not to do so.  You were fined because you breached the Cancer Act, a piece of legislation you mentioned - favourably! -  yet totally misrepresented on your original website.

Who am I?

I'm not a journalist.  I'm not a researcher.  I'm not even the relative or friend of a cancer patient adversely affected by Adrian Pengelly's treatment.  I'm simply an ordinary member of the public sickened by con artists who prey on the desperate and gullible.  Few people are more at risk from exploiters than those who have just been diagnosed with cancer and are understandably afraid of both the disease itself and the surgery/chemotherapy they hope will save, or at least extend, their lives.  These are the people the Cancer Act of 1939 was designed to protect.

I'd like to make one thing clear:  all I needed to expose Mr Pengelly's nonsense was the internet, the reference section of my local library and a few phone calls and letters.  ANYONE with a spark of curiosity could have done the same.  Mr Pengelly is obviously so accustomed to being surrounded by credulous and sycophantic people he interprets honest enquiry as persecution, a trait I've often encountered amongst New Age/alternative practitioners.  Instant recourse to ad hominem attacks is also widespread amongst the "Love and Light" brigade! 

Finally, I hope Mr Pengelly doesn't think that when he deleted the incriminating parts of his old website they simply disappeared into the ether. 

A number of people had the foresight to save every single page, including an audio file of a mind-boggling lecture Mr Pengelly gave in Spain.  Here are a couple of quotes from this humble, ethical "healer" who now maintains that he "makes no claims":

"Cancer is the thing that all healers hope to be able to heal. It’s the Holy Grail of healing. And if a healer can say that he or she can heal cancer, everybody gives you extra healing points. And they put you onto a pedestal."

"People are scared of cancer, and healers are scared of cancer. But if we really look at the nature of cancer, cancer is an expression of an unearthly balance. Cancer is a symptom ‐ something is happening underneath. It’s understanding that, that is the key. Over the years I’ve treated thousands of people with cancer ‐ and I don’t have any figures ‐ but I’ve healed hundreds and hundreds of them. My success rate, we think, is something around sixty to sixty‐five percent for terminal cancer."

"If I get rid of the cancer and the person decides they don’t want treatment any more ‐
either they’re too busy, or they’re too mean with their money, or they just think they know better ‐ the cancer often comes back. And if it comes back, I can’t get rid of it a second time. My healing doesn’t work a second time."

Am I alone in thinking that the final quote sounds almost like a threat?

Now, introductions aside, let's proceed to Part One of the Pengelly Saga - "How It All Began".  Click on News to read the rest of the site!