Benjamin Field, jailed for murder of university lecturer Peter Farquhar, has conviction overturned
The conviction of Benjamin Field, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019 for the murder of university lecturer Peter Farquhar, was overturned in the Court of Appeal.
High-profile case shook the country and later inspired a BBC TV series Sixth CommandmentStarring Timothy Spall.
Mr Farquhar, 69, was found dead at his home in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton in October 2015, with a bottle of 60-proof whiskey next to him.
An autopsy later revealed that his death was due to “acute alcohol poisoning.”
Field, 35, was accused of giving Mr Farquhar alcohol and/or sleeping pills called Dalmane so that he suffered what appeared to be an “alcoholic death” and Field inherited his fortune.
He was convicted at Oxford Crown Court in August 2019 and sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 36 years behind bars before he can apply for parole.
Field admitted being a “snake talker” who tricked Mr Farquhar into changing his will and into a fake relationship, but denied killing him.
The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2025.
Field’s lawyers said at the hearing in March that there was “no evidence” that Mr Farquhar had been “coerced or deceived” into taking whiskey or medication.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, three senior judges overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial.
Reading a summary of the verdict, Judge Edis, along with Mr Justice Kaz and Mr Justice Kasap, said the jurors in the trial were “not properly guided” and that the instructions they were given on how to reach a verdict were “flawed”.
He said: “The instructions effectively withdrew from the jury the question of whether Mr Farquhar’s decision to drink whiskey was voluntary.”
Judge Edis also said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) could take the “unusual case” to the High Court before any retrial.
The judge added that Field “will remain in prison pending the appeal (to the Supreme Court).”
