A former church warden serving a life sentence for the killing of a university lecturer in Buckinghamshire has had his murder conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Three senior judges delivered their ruling today for the case of Benjamin Field, who was jailed for at least 36 years in 2019 after being found guilty of murdering 69-year-old Peter Farquhar.
Lord Justice Edis, alongside Mr Justice Goose and Mr Justice Butcher, declared that the directions provided to the jury were "defective", and that jurors had "not been properly directed".
A retrial has been ordered, though the Crown Prosecution Service may first pursue an appeal to the Supreme Court, where Field will remain imprisoned while any such appeal proceeds.
TRENDING
Stories
Videos
Your Say
Field received a minimum 36-year prison term in 2019 following his conviction at Oxford Crown Court for murdering the 69-year-old in Maids Moreton.
The prosecution's case alleged that Field had systematically administered tranquiliser drugs to Mr Farquhar and contaminated his whisky without his knowledge, intending for the pensioner's 2015 death to appear self-inflicted or accidental.
The judge today stated: "The directions effectively withdrew from the jury the question of whether Mr Farquhar's decision to drink the whisky had been voluntary."
According to prosecutors, Field's scheme was designed to convince the retired academic that his mental faculties were deteriorating, ultimately positioning himself to inherit the victim's home and financial assets.
Peter Farquhar was murdered in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire in 2015
|THAMES VALLEY POLICE
The Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the matter to the Court of Appeal last year, prompting Field's legal team to argue at a March hearing that "no evidence" existed showing Mr Farquhar was "forced or deceived" into consuming the whisky or medication.
Field's defence counsel, David Jeremy KC, contended at last month's hearing that his client would have needed to cause Mr Farquhar to consume the whisky or medication in a manner that was "less than fully voluntary" to be legally responsible for the death.
The barrister argued that Mr Farquhar "knew what he was being given and knew who he was being given it by", comparing the situation to "causing him to drive his car by handing him his car keys".
The CPS resisted the appeal, with David Perry KC maintaining that Field was "not a mere bystander or a mere spectator of Mr Farquhar's death at his own hands".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Benjamin Field was jailed for at least 36 years in 2019 after being found guilty of murdering 69-year-old Peter Farquhar
|THAMES VALLEY POLICE
"He was, at all times, playing his part in causing the death both as a matter of common sense and as a matter of law," the prosecution barrister argued.
Prior to his murder trial, Field pleaded guilty to two burglary charges and three counts of fraud stemming from his deceptive relationships with both Mr Farquhar and his elderly neighbour, Ann Moore-Martin.
The court heard that Field, the son of a Baptist minister, participated in a "betrothal" ceremony with Mr Farquhar, who was gay, whilst simultaneously maintaining relationships with multiple girlfriends and Miss Moore-Martin.
Field manipulated the devoutly religious retired headteacher by inscribing messages on her mirrors that purported to come from God. She died of natural causes in May 2017.
He was acquitted of conspiring or attempting to murder Miss Moore-Martin and received a concurrent 16-year sentence for his fraud and burglary offences.
The case subsequently inspired the BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, featuring Timothy Spall and Eanna Hardwicke.