Man jailed for 37 years for murdering university lecturer has conviction quashed

The murder conviction of Benjamin Field has been quashed by the Court of Appeal, with judges ordering a retrial in the high-profile case. 

Field, 28, was originally convicted in 2019 of killing Peter Farquhar, a 69-year-old retired university lecturer, in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire. Prosecutors had argued that Field drugged and manipulated Farquhar in a calculated plan to inherit his money and property.

However, in a ruling delivered by Lord Justice Edis alongside two other senior judges, the court found that the jury in the original trial had not been properly directed. The judges said the instructions were “defective” and failed to adequately address whether Farquhar had voluntarily consumed the whisky and medication that contributed to his death.

“The directions effectively withdrew from the jury the question of whether Mr Farquhar’s decision to drink the whisky had been voluntary,” the court stated.

Field’s legal team had argued there was no clear evidence that Farquhar had been forced or deceived into taking the substances, challenging a key part of the prosecution’s case.

Despite quashing the conviction, the court has allowed the Crown Prosecution Service to take the unusual step of appealing to the Supreme Court before any retrial proceeds. Field will remain in custody while that process is ongoing.

During the original trial at Oxford Crown Court, jurors heard allegations that Field befriended Farquhar, gained his trust, and encouraged him to amend his will in his favour. He was also accused of administering drugs and alcohol in a way intended to make the death appear accidental.

Field denied murder, telling jurors: “This murder never happened. No-one killed anyone.” He had previously lost an appeal against his conviction in 2021. The case later attracted widespread attention and was dramatized in the BBC series The Sixth Commandment.

A retrial could now determine whether Field bears criminal responsibility for Farquhar’s death, pending the outcome of any further legal challenges.