Why was churchwarden murder conviction quashed?

Former churchwarden Benjamin Field, 35, was told by the Court of Appeal on Thursday that his murder conviction had been quashed and he could face a retrial.

In 2019, he had been sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison following the death of 69-year-old Peter Farquhar in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire.

Six years on, what happens next could see Field eventually released from jail - but what has changed?

Author Peter Farquhar died in his home village of Maids Moreton, on the outskirts of Buckingham, in October 2015.

He had been found in his living room by his cleaner with a half-empty bottle of whisky next to him. The coroner concluded he died of acute alcohol intoxication.

In 2018, churchwarden Benjamin Field was arrested, accused of murdering the pensioner and trying to make it look like an accident or suicide.

Prosecutors said he had seduced the university lecturer and then spiked his drinks in an attempt to make him feel like he was losing his mind.

Before his death, Farquhar had changed his will, giving Field a life interest in his house. When the house was sold, he split the proceeds with Farquhar's brother.

Pensioner Ann Moore-Martin lived three doors down from the author. She died of natural causes in a care home in 2017.

Before Farquhar's death, Field had moved in with 83-year-old Moore-Martin. He later told the court this was because "early on I saw her as someone I could benefit from".

He gave her items, such as a framed picture of his face, and she gave him thousands of pounds when he said he needed to buy a new car.

The churchwarden also wrote messages on her mirror, hoping she would believe they were messages from God. Some messages told her to leave her house to Field.

In 2017, while in hospital, Moore-Martin confided in her niece about the relationship and a police investigation started.

She had reversed her will to benefit her family and not Field before she died.

A decision was taken to exhume Farquhar's body - 19 months after his death - once police established the link between Field, Moore-Martin and Farquhar.

Following a second post-mortem examination, it was established the author had consumed less alcohol than previously thought and there were sedatives in his system.

After his arrest, Field admitted starting fake relationships with the pensioners as part of a plot to get them to change their wills. He denied any involvement in their deaths.

Oxford Crown Court heard how Farquhar's drinks were spiked with bioethanol and poteen, a high-strength Irish alcohol, while his food was laced with drugs.

Field admitted to the court that he had drugged the university lecturer for no other reason than to "torment" him.

Prosecutors argued that Field suffocated the pensioner while he was too weak to resist, and left the half-empty bottle of whisky in Farquhar's room to make it seem like he had drunk himself to death.

In August 2019, at the end of a 10-week trial, a jury found him not guilty of plotting to murder Moore-Martin but he was convicted of murdering Farquhar.

He had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud related to the fake relationships and defrauding Moore-Martin. He also admitted two counts of burglary.

In 2021, Field attempted to have his murder conviction overturned at the Court of Appeal.

His barrister claimed the conviction was "unsafe" as the trial judge misdirected the jury.

He lost that appeal, with a written ruling from the court saying "the approach of the judge was correct".

In January 2022, he challenged the decision, with his lawyers arguing the judgment was flawed. The appeal was refused again.

His conviction was referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission under the exceptional circumstances provision in August 2025.

This allows a new appeal, even if there is no new evidence, if there is a possibility that the court could find the conviction unsafe.

It was argued by Field's barrister that there was no proof the pensioner had been deceived into drinking drugged whisky.

He told the Court of Appeal: "Mr Farquhar knew what he was being given and knew who he was being given it by."

In a ruling on Thursday, three senior judges quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial, saying directions given to jurors at the trial had been "defective".

Lord Justice Edis said: "The directions effectively withdrew from the jury the question of whether Mr Farquhar's decision to drink the whisky had been voluntary."

Before a retrial can take place, the Crown Prosecution Service has been given the opportunity to refer the case to the Supreme Court.

The judge added that Field would remain in prison as long as that appeal was pending.

A CPS spokesperson said: "The Court of Appeal has found Field's conviction to be unsafe based on the directions given at trial to the jury.

"It has also, exceptionally, certified that its decision involves an important point of law of general public importance and has given the prosecution leave to appeal to the Supreme Court."

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