With the recent premiere and great traction of the BBC One mini-series “The Sixth Commandment,” starring Timothy Spall and Eanna Hardwicke, people are flocking to the internet to learn more about this true crime biopic that tells a haunting story of mental health, religion, gaslighting and manipulation of elderly people at the hands of Ben Field.
Reader beware, the following post contains elements of murder and mental illness, and some might find those themes triggering. Leaving that aside, let’s get into the meat in this bone. Today we’re going to cover what Ben Field did, whom he did it with, and to whom he did it. This is a story of murder, of deceit, and of crime and punishment.
The story of a man who used what he learned to perform evil acts and eventually become a killer is the story of Ben Field and his terrible acts for which he is now punished by the British judicial system.
Who Is Ben Field?
Benjamin “Ben” Field is a former British churchwarden, the son of a pastor who studied at the University of Buckingham and managed to land a job at a congregation in Buckinghamshire as an unpaid churchwarden. There, the congregation welcomed him with open arms.
He eventually rose in the church’s hierarchy and was angling to become vicar, but his greed and criminal behavior led him to meet Peter Farquhar in the classroom and his neighbor, Ann Moore-Martin, whom he befriended and eventually tricked and manipulated by a fellow student and magician Martyn Smith.
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What Did Ben Field Do?
Ben Field was a churchwarden who managed to trick and gaslight the late author and University of Buckingham professor Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin. He used his charisma and skills to trick these elder people into giving him money, access to his home, bank accounts and eventually have them change their will to include him in his estate.
This gift didn’t stop Field from continuing his criminal deeds because he also was angling to trick a third victim, but his greed and criminal behavior got the worse of him the moment he was caught poisoning the food and beverages of Professor Farquhar, effectively killing him, and eventually collecting his estate and planning to the same with Ann Moore-Martin.
Field didn’t act alone; he had the help of a fellow student at the University of Buckingham, Martyn Smith, who collaborated with him in the gaslighting of Farquhar, convincing the elder professor to allow Smith and Field to a shack in his house and live off of him. Smith was cleared of the charges of murder, attempted murder, fraud, and burglary, but Field wasn’t and had to face the consequences of his actions.
What Happened To Ben Field?
After being arrested, tried, and found guilty of the murder of Peter Farquhar and the attempted murder of Ann Moore-Martin., he was sentenced in 2015 to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 36 years to be considered for liberty under parole. Field has been serving his sentence in one of His Majesty’s prisons, and most recently, in July 2023, he filed a motion with the Criminal Cases Review Commission to have his case further pushed up to the court of appeals.
This doesn’t mean his automatic release or eventual pardon; in fact, it is an integral part of his legal rights as a convicted inmate. As per the established legal procedures, which uphold fairness and due process, he has the right to file a motion for reconsideration.
However, given the gravity of his crimes and the overwhelming evidence against him, it is highly probable that his motion will be swiftly dismissed by the court. As stated earlier, one of the main reasons why he’s in the public eye again after his conviction is because he was played by Eanna Hardwicke in the latest BBC One drama, “The Sixth Commandment.”
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