Church warden murder conviction quashed

A former church warden jailed for murdering a university lecturer has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal.

Benjamin Field, 35, was sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison for the murder of Peter Farquhar, 69, in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, in 2015.

His conviction had been referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under the exceptional circumstances provision, which allows a new appeal even if there is no new evidence.

In a ruling on Thursday, three senior judges quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial.

Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Goose and Mr Justice Butcher, also said they would allow the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to take the "unusual case" to the Supreme Court before any retrial takes place.

Prosecutors in Field's 2019 trial said he spiked Farquhar's whisky to make him think he was losing his mind, as part of a plot to inherit his house and money.

Field's lawyers told the Court of Appeal in March that there was "no evidence" that Farquhar was "forced or deceived" into taking the whisky or medication before his death.

Reading a summary of their ruling, judges said the jurors at trial had "not been properly directed" and the directions given to them on how to reach a verdict were "defective".

Lord Justice Edis said: "The directions effectively withdrew from the jury the question of whether Mr Farquhar's decision to drink the whisky had been voluntary."

Field had also targeted a neighbour of Farquhar, Ann Moore-Martin, 83, a retired headteacher who he manipulated by writing messages on her mirrors purporting to be from God.

The former church warden admitted fraudulently being in relationships with the pensioners as part of his plan to get them to change their wills.

He was found not guilty of conspiracy to murder Moore-Martin and an alternative charge of attempted murder.

Alongside his life sentence, Field was given a concurrent 16-year jail term for admitting fraud and burglary offences.

The judge added that Field would remain in prison "for so long as the appeal (to the Supreme Court) is pending".

Field previously attempted to appeal against his conviction in 2021, which he lost.

In this new attempt, his lawyers said the previous Court of Appeal decision wrongly applied the law due to "moral disapproval".

The CPS opposed the appeal arguing Field was not a mere bystander or spectator of Farquhar's death.

KC David Perry said: "He was, at all times, playing his part in causing the death both as a matter of common sense and as a matter of law."

In 2023 the case was turned into The Sixth Commandment, a BBC drama starring Timothy Spall, Anne Reid and Eanna Hardwicke.