Maids Moreton murderer made to sell flat to pay £124k to victims' families

A murderer who duped two elderly people into changing their wills has paid more than £124,000 to their families after selling his flat, police said.

Ben Field manipulated Peter Farquhar, 69, and Ann Moore-Martin, 83, both from Buckinghamshire.

He was jailed in 2019 for the 2015 murder of Mr Farquhar and for defrauding Ms Moore-Martin.

A flat bought with money that was obtained by deception was sold to settle a court confiscation order.

Field was 28 when he was jailed for life in 2019 for the murder of Mr Farquhar in the village of Maids Moreton in October 2015.

He was found not guilty of plotting to kill Mr Farquhar's neighbour Ann Moore-Martin but admitted defrauding her.

The case has recently been dramatised by BBC TV as The Sixth Commandment, starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid.

The Oxford Crown Court trial heard Field admitted duping the pair and drugging Mr Farquhar to "torment" him but denied involvement in either of their deaths.

A jury heard Field suffocated Mr Farquhar and created the impression he had drunk himself to death, a view the coroner agreed with.

Field then took advantage of Ms Moore-Martin's loneliness and they developed a sexual relationship.

She changed her will and also gave him more than £30,000, which he said he needed for a new car and a dialysis machine for his younger brother who he said had a kidney condition.

In February 2017, Ms Moore-Martin became ill and suffered a seizure. While in hospital, she confided in her niece about her relationship with Field. Police started an investigation and established the link between the three people.

Mr Farquar's body was exhumed and, after a second post-mortem examination, Field was arrested.

Ms Moore-Martin reversed her will to benefit her family before she died of natural causes in a care home in May 2017.

Mr Farquhar had changed his will, naming Field as the main beneficiary and giving him a life interest in his house as well as half share in the property with Mr Farquhar's brother Ian.

When the property was sold, Field used his share to buy a flat in Towcester, Northamptonshire, which has now been sold with proceeds going to the victims' families.

A proceeds of crime hearing at Oxford Crown Court in June 2020 was told Field had received £193,921.32 from his two victims, but only £146,561.02 was available.

He was ordered to pay £123,111.26 to Mr Farquhar's family and £23,449.76 to the family of Ms Moore-Martin or face a 16-month extension to his 36-year minimum jail sentence.

The court later granted an extension of the time to pay to December 2020 when the "available figure" of money was "varied by consent".

Thames Valley Police said that the original order of £146,561.02 had been "varied down" due to the sale price, fees and money spent on repairs ahead of the market sale.

"The flat was sold and this money used to compensate the victims," a spokesman said.

The force confirmed that the confiscation order of £124,665.03 had now been paid in full and that "monies have been distributed as part of the agreed order to the victims in this case".

Kathryn Curtis, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Field could "no longer profit from his cruel actions".

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