A former church warden who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a university lecturer has had his conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal. Benjamin Field, who was originally sentenced in 2019, saw his conviction overturned on Thursday, April 16, 2026, following a ruling by three senior judges.
The decision comes after the case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2025. The judges have ordered a retrial, though they noted that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) may choose to take the matter to the Supreme Court before any latest trial begins.
The case originally centered on the 2015 death of 69-year-old Peter Farquhar in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton. Mr. Farquhar, a university lecturer, was found dead in his home with a bottle of 60 proof whisky beside him, and a post-mortem examination attributed his death to “acute alcohol toxicity” according to reports from the Independent.
Legal Grounds for Quashing the Conviction
The Court of Appeal’s decision rested on the quality of the directions provided to the original jury. Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr. Justice Goose, and Mr. Justice Butcher, determined that the jurors at the initial trial had “not been properly directed” and that the instructions regarding how to reach a verdict were “defective.”
Specifically, Lord Justice Edis stated that the directions given to the jury effectively removed the critical question of whether Mr. Farquhar’s decision to consume the whisky had been voluntary. This legal gap formed the basis for the court’s decision to quash the conviction and order a retrial.
During a hearing in March, lawyers representing Field argued that there was “no evidence” to prove that Mr. Farquhar had been “forced or deceived” into taking the medication or the whisky in question as reported by the Evening Standard.
Background of the 2019 Conviction
Benjamin Field was convicted at Oxford Crown Court in August 2019. At the time, prosecutors alleged that Field had engaged in a campaign of physical and mental torture against Mr. Farquhar to inherit his house and money. The prosecution claimed that Field secretly administered tranquilizer drugs and spiked whisky to make the death appear as an accident or suicide via LBC News.
Field was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years to serve before he could apply for parole. During the original proceedings, Field admitted to being a “snake talker” who had manipulated Mr. Farquhar into a fake relationship to influence his will, although he consistently denied the killing.
The scheme reportedly began to unravel when Field shifted his targeting toward a neighbor, 83-year-old Ann Moore-Martin. The high-profile nature of the case later served as the inspiration for the BBC television series The Sixth Commandment, starring Timothy Spall.
Key Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 2015 | Peter Farquhar, 69, is found dead in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire. |
| August 2019 | Benjamin Field is convicted of murder at Oxford Crown Court and jailed for life (minimum 36 years). |
| 2025 | The Criminal Cases Review Commission refers the case to the Court of Appeal. |
| March 2026 | Court of Appeal hearing takes place. |
| April 16, 2026 | Court of Appeal quashes the conviction and orders a retrial. |
What Happens Next
The immediate result of the ruling is the quashing of the murder conviction, but it does not result in an immediate acquittal. The judges have ordered a retrial to address the defective directions given to the previous jury.
However, a further legal step may occur before that retrial. Lord Justice Edis indicated that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) could take this “unusual case” to the Supreme Court. If the CPS chooses to pursue this route, the Supreme Court will review the legal points before any new trial is scheduled.
The case remains a significant point of legal interest regarding jury directions and the burden of proof in cases involving suspected deception or coercion in the administration of medication and alcohol.
The next confirmed checkpoint in this legal process is the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service on whether to appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling to the Supreme Court.
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