Sixth Commandment killer pays victims’ households compensation after promoting flat
B
en Field, who murdered a college lecturer and duped one other sufferer into altering her will, has paid £124,000 to their devastated families.
PhD pupil and churchwarden Benjamin Field, 29, was jailed for not less than 36 years for killing Peter Farquhar, 69, in a bid to inherit his home and money after manipulating him and pretending to be his lover.
In October 2019, Field was jailed for all times with a minimal time period of 36 years for Farquhar’s homicide and for defrauding Ann Moore-Martin of £31,000. His try to overturn his conviction was unsuccessful.
Field had additionally defrauded Mr Farquhar of £160,000 from his will.
The BBC created drama The Sixth Commandment, written by Sarah Phelps, based mostly on the story. It stars Mr Turner and Spencer actor Timothy Spall as Peter Farquhar, “an inspirational teacher” who was manipulated right into a relationship with Field, his killer. Sanditon’s Anne Reid stars because the second homicide sufferer, Ann Moore-Martin.
Field has now paid out £124,665.03, “distributed as part of the agreed order to the victims in this case”, with the cash he earned from promoting a flat that he purchased together with his victims’ financial savings.
When jailed, detectives described Field as a psychopath and an “ongoing danger to society” had he not been stopped, whereas Mr Farquhar’s household branded him a “deeply malevolent and thoroughly evil man”.
Mr Farquhar died in October 2015, whereas Miss Moore-Martin died in May 2017 from pure causes.
Field accepted he had “psychologically manipulated” the retired academics and was fraudulently in relationships with them to coerce them to alter their wills, however denied any involvement of their deaths.
He insisted Mr Farquhar might have died from taking his normal dose of flurazepam and ingesting whisky, however was nonetheless convicted by the jury.
Mr Justice Sweeney stated that Field murdered Mr Farquhar by covertly giving him drugs and getting him to drink sturdy whisky after which, “if it was necessary, finished him off by suffocating him in a way that left no trace”.
“In your evidence at trial you admitted that, from late 2012 until mid-2017, you had lived by deception and deceit and had been a well-practised and able liar,” the decide informed him.
“You further admitted how you could manipulate and manoeuvre people, however sceptical they may have been, to achieve your ends without ever asking them to do so directly.”