22 August 2023 , 09:40
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A “psychopath” who duped two elderly victims into changing their wills before killing one of them has been forced to pay £124,000 back to their families.
Ben Field, 29, preyed upon Peter Farquhar, 69, and Ann Moore-Martin, 83, both from Buckinghamshire. Field killed Mr Farquhar after gaslighting him, pretending to be his lover and convincing him to change his will to benefit himself.
The BBC dramatised the twisted case this year with the series The Sixth Commandment, starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid.
Field was jailed for at least 36 years at Oxford Crown Court for Mr Farquhar's murder in 2015. At the trial he was acquitted of the attempted murder of Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin but he also admitted to defrauding her.
Peter Farquhar and Benjamin Field at their betrothal ceremony (PA)Field, the son of a baptist minister, defrauded Mr Farquhar of £160,000 from his will after it was changed to make Field the main beneficiary. He used money from the inheritance to buy a flat in Towcester, Northamptonshire, which he has now been forced to sell to pay back his victims’ families. He also convinced Ann Moore-Martin to change her will, leaving him £30,000 which he told her he needed for a dialysis machine for his sick brother.
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The court heard how manipulative Field “tormented” Mr Farquar by drugging him before suffocating him and creating the impression he had died by mixing alcohol with his sleeping medication. It wasn’t until Field started to manipulate Ann Moore-Martin, who lived on the same street in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, that his sinister schemes started to unravel.
He took advantage of her loneliness and developed a sexual relationship with the former head teacher, gaslighting her by writing messages on her mirrors claiming they were from God. After changing her will to leave him tens of thousands Ms Moore-Martin told her niece about her relationship with Field while in hospital after suffering a seizure. A subsequent police investigation discovered the link between the three people and exhumed Mr Farquar's body for a second post-mortem, after which Field was arrested.
Retired head teacher Ann-Moore Martin was also preyed upon by Field (PA)
Benjamin Field was jailed in 2015 (PA)Detectives on the case described Field as a ‘psychopath’. The judge in his trial said he demonstrated: “grandiosity, a sense of superiority towards others, the exploitation of others to achieve personal gain, the need to belittle and humiliate others, fixation on fantasies of power and success, intelligence, a need for admiration from others, and a sense of entitlement together with an unwillingness to empathise with the feelings, needs and wishes of others.”
A proceeds of crime hearing at Oxford Crown Court heard how Field had received £193,921.32 from his two victims and ordered him to pay £123,111.26 to Mr Farquhar's family and £23,449.76 to the family of Ms Moore-Martin. Failure to do so, he was told, would mean a 16-month extension to his 36-year minimum jail sentence. This figure was later "varied down" due to the sale price and associated costs of selling the flat he had bought with his illegal inheritance money. Thames Valley Police said the confiscation order of £124,665.03 had now been paid, adding "monies have been distributed as part of the agreed order to the victims in this case".