Auto Amazon Links: No products found.
A Supreme Court hearing has focused on whether Benjamin Field, a former deputy church warden convicted of murdering university lecturer Peter Farquhar, could have legally caused Farquhar’s death by giving him whisky that may have been sedated. Field, who was 35 at the time of his conviction in 2019, was sentenced to at least 36 years in prison for the killing of the 69-year-old in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire. However, earlier this year, appeal judges overturned Field’s conviction and called for a retrial, though they permitted the Crown Prosecution Service to bring the case before the Supreme Court first.
Throughout the original murder trial, prosecutors argued that Field manipulated Farquhar by making him believe he was losing his sanity. They claimed Field secretly drugged him and laced his whisky, intending for Farquhar’s death to appear accidental or self-inflicted so that Field could inherit his property and wealth. The case attracted public attention and was dramatized in the BBC series *The Sixth Commandment*, which featured Timothy Spall and Anne Reid. Prior to his murder conviction, Field admitted to burglary and fraud charges connected to his relationships with both Farquhar and his neighbor Ann Moore-Martin, using these relationships to influence changes to their wills. He was sentenced to 16 years concurrently for these offences but was acquitted of conspiracy or attempted murder relating to Moore-Martin.
At the Supreme Court hearing, Field’s representative David Jeremy KC argued that the act of giving Farquhar whisky—whether or not it was laced with the sedative Dalmane—could not be considered a legally effective cause of death. He asserted that if Field had, for instance, handed Farquhar his car keys and Farquhar then died in a traffic accident, Field would legally be responsible, but in this case the whisky was consumed voluntarily. Jeremy emphasized that Farquhar chose to drink the whisky knowingly and freely. Additionally, during the appeal, it was noted there was no clear evidence of how the sedative was administered and that the post-mortem revealed only a therapeutic dose of Dalmane. Jeremy questioned why Field would limit himself to just a therapeutic amount if he had indeed secretly added the drug to Farquhar’s drink.
The hearing was set to conclude on Tuesday, with the Supreme Court’s final verdict expected at a later date. The court’s decision will determine whether Field can be held legally responsible for Farquhar’s death under the circumstances presented, potentially influencing the retrial or any subsequent legal proceedings
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
Auto Amazon Links: No products found.