NETFLIX’S latest true crime documentary Con Mum tells the shocking story of renowned pastry chef Graham Hornigold.
He was deceived by a serial scammer who posed as his biological mother — here’s everything you need to know.
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Who is Graham Hornigold?
Graham Hornigold is a highly accomplished pastry chef with a career spanning 28 years.
He was born on a British army base in Germany back in 1974.
He has worked in some of London’s finest hotels and restaurants, including the Mandarin Oriental and The Lanesborough.
Graham’s expertise has earned him numerous accolades, including UK Pastry Chef of the Year in 2007 and two Tea Guild Best Afternoon Tea awards in 2005 and 2008.
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He is also a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals.
In 2019, he co-founded Longboys with fellow pastry chef Heather Kaniuk.
Longboys specialises in handmade finger doughnuts, offering innovative flavours and high-quality ingredients.
The brand quickly gained popularity, expanding to three locations and securing stockists including Harrods and Selfridges.
However, he had a challenging upbringing.
When he was about two, he ended up in foster care for a couple of years and then moved to Hertfordshire to live with his dad, who was a sapper in the Royal Engineers, and his stepmum.
As for his birth mum, she wasn’t in the picture.
He didn’t know who she was or where she’d gone.
His dad, who drank and could get violent, didn’t talk about her much and just said she’d left.
Graham describes his upbringing as tough, and his dad as “ex-army, classic 1970s.”
He has a scar on his head from when his dad kicked him at the age of seven.
The last time they crossed paths, Graham was 18 and that ended with him knocking his dad to the ground.
That was my downfall. If you don’t receive [love] when you’re a kid, you have this wound you carry around.
Graham Hornigold
He knows his father’s not around anymore, though he’s not exactly sure where he ended up.
He told the Guardian: “Either you allow life to consume you and become bitter, or you utilise those challenges.”
He ended up going to college to study catering and followed his dream of becoming a chef.
“The challenges are a trauma response – you advance yourself or feel a sense of acceptance.”
Con Mum
The true story behind Con Mum began in July 2020 when Graham received an email from a woman named Dionne, claiming to be his multi-millionaire biological mother.
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Having never known his real mother, Graham was excited about the prospect of reuniting with her.
Dionne told Graham she had a brain tumour and bone marrow cancer, and just six months left to live, and that’s why she’d come looking for him.
He said: “So it was a bit bittersweet. I’d just had her come into my life; now she was being taken away again.”
The two met at a penthouse in Liverpool, where Dionne showcased a lavish lifestyle.
However, what initially seemed like a heartwarming reunion turned into a nightmare for Graham.
Dionne was revealed to be a serial scammer who manipulated and deceived the chef, ultimately conning him out of more than £100,000.
The cheerful but frail 85-year-old, claimed to be a wealthy businesswoman with fruit farms and palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Living luxuriously in London on champagne and caviar, she said her fortune came from her business acumen and being the illegitimate daughter of the former sultan of Brunei.
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Though it sounded unlikely, Graham wondered if it was true, especially given her VIP treatment at the Brunei-owned Dorchester hotel.
After Graham’s former partner, Heather Kaniuk, had their baby in 2020, Dionne’s health worsened.
She had claimed to find blood in her urine, showing a picture to Graham.
He then moved her into their Kent home.
That’s when things got tense as Heather says Dionne’s mood changed after the birth.
She started criticising her and grumbling about not getting enough time with her new grandson.
Heather said: “That sense of ‘I’ve just become a mum’ was robbed from me, because there’s Dionne.”
In Zurich, Dionne promised Graham a fortune but delays kept cropping up.
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Meanwhile, she lived it up, secretly asking others to cover costs.
Graham used family funds, thinking he’d be repaid.
His ex later realised Dionne never paid a penny.
They had, unknowingly, bankrolled her extravagant lifestyle.
Graham started to realise the truth after his friend Juan told him Dionne was likely faking it.
Then he found red food dye in her hotel room—proof the blood was staged.
He said: “Yeah, absolutely. That was my downfall.
“If you don’t receive [love] when you’re a kid, you have this wound you carry around.”
Heather added: “It goes against everything you think a mother should do – loving and protecting a child.
“She didn’t do any of that; she effectively destroyed her child’s life. With no remorse.”
How to watch Con Mum
The Netflix documentary Con Mum explores how Dionne’s deception unfolded and the devastating impact it had on Graham’s life.
It features interviews with Graham, his family, friends and former partner, providing a comprehensive account of the ordeal.
The film also includes testimonies from other individuals who fell victim to the same scammer.
Executive producer Jez Lee said: “Con Mum is an unbelievable, never told before tale of love and loss.
“The formidable original journalism will have viewers on the very edge of their seat.”
Con Mum drops on Netflix on March 25, 2025.
