A church warden who was jailed for life for the murder of a university lecturer has had his conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal, and a retrial has been ordered. Benjamin Field was sentenced to at least 36 years in 2019 for killing 69-year-old Peter Farquhar in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.
The prosecution had argued that Field manipulated Farquhar into changing his will and then killed him by giving him tranquillisers, spiking his whisky, and encouraging him to drink it to make it appear as though he had drunk himself to death. However, on Thursday, Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Mr Justice Butcher, quashed the conviction, ruling that the jury had been given defective directions.
Edis stated that the directions effectively removed from the jury the question of whether Farquhar's decision to drink the whisky had been voluntary. He noted there was no evidence that Field administered the whisky or that Farquhar was deceived into drinking it, although Field had deceived and preyed upon him. The judge also said the directions allowed the jury to convict on the basis of smothering without sufficient evidence.
Field had previously admitted two counts of burglary and three of fraud for entering into relationships with Farquhar and his neighbour, Ann Moore-Martin, as part of a plan to change their wills. He was cleared of conspiring or attempting to murder Moore-Martin. The case was the subject of a BBC drama, The Sixth Commandment, in 2023.
The Crown Prosecution Service may take the case to the Supreme Court before any retrial, and Field will remain in prison pending any such appeal.
