Who was Peter Farquhar and what happened to him? – The sun
PETER Farquhar was found dead in his home in October 2015.
At the time, his death was ruled an accident before the truth that he had been murdered came to light.
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Who was Peter Farquhar?
Peter was born on January 3, 1946 as Peter Anthony Scott Farquhar EdinburghScotland.
Not much is known about Peter's family, but we know that his father was a doctor and that he has a brother, Ian.
Peter was a teacher and author and was educated at Latymer Upper School in London before attending Churchill College Cambridge for his bachelor's degree.
He managed to obtain a first class degree in English and also taught English for over 30 years.
Peter taught English Manchester Grammar School and then Stowe School Buckinghamshire.
From 2007, Farquhar was also an occasional lecturer at Buckingham University.
Outside of his teaching career, Farquhar published three novels Amazonand a character in the 2013 film Believe was partly based on him during his time as a teacher in Manchester.
Peter was a devout evangelical Christian and had considered becoming a preacher.
He was a regular worshiper and minister at Stowe Parish Church for twenty years.
How did the novelist die?
Peter was found dead in his home at Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire on October 26, 2015
His death was not treated as suspicious because the novelist's friends and family believed he died in his sleep after a brief illness.
However, then his neighbor Ann Moore-Martin died just two years later under similar circumstancesa double murder investigation was initiated.
It took four years, 880 statements and an excavation Police to discover Ben Field's crime.
Friends, family and neighbors of the deceased were shocked to discover that their deaths were the result of one man's greed.
Field had seduced both Ann and Peter into fake relationships.
He had killed Peter after drugging him and making him believe he was going crazy to inherit his house and money.
Field achieved this by tricking and deceiving Peter to get him to change his will.
In November 2014, Farquhar changed his will, leaving half his house and £15,000 to Field and appointing him his literary agent.
The court heard that the evil Field 'choked' him and then left a half-empty bottle of whiskey in his room, making it look like he had drunk himself to death.
During his trial Field admitted to drugging Farquhar with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens just to “torment” him and tell the jury he did it “for no other reason than that it was cruel, to upset and torment Peter – purely out of meanness”.
Which novels did Peter Farquhar publish?
Peter had published three books before his death.
His first book A Wide Wide Sea was written in 1997, but was not published until 2015.
It was published when some of his university students discovered his manuscript and convinced him to publish it.
His other titles were Between Boy and Man, published in 2010, and A Bitter Heart, published in 2012.
How did he know Ben Field?
Field and Peter first met when Peter was a visiting lecturer at Buckingham University.
It was later revealed that Field, although more than forty years younger, was Peter's lover.
Their relationship was public and supported by their church, where an engagement ceremony was held with the couple exchanging crucifix necklaces.
An officer from Thames Valley Police, Mark Glover, said: “Peter and Ben first met around April 2011, when Ben was a student and Peter was a visiting lecturer at Buckingham University.
“Ben's motives for befriending Peter had everything to do with Ben Field.
“Ben saw Peter as someone who could advance his own literary writings and ultimately it was financially driven by Ben getting Peter to change his will in Ben's favor.”
Eventually, Field and Peter started living together full-time in Peter's house.
Officer Glover said: “Over time there was an engagement ceremony in a church, where they were somewhat committed to each other, and Ben continued to live with Peter in what Peter thought was a loving relationship.”
Peter's brother, Ian, said Field “callously and greedily seduced his way into my brother's life.”
Where is Ben Field now?
Field served as churchwarden.
In January 2018 he was arrested for the murder of Peter and Ann.
He was convicted of Peter's murder in August 2018 and Field was convicted Unpleasant life in prison with a minimum of 26 years in October 2019.
He was found not guilty of plotting to murder Peter's neighbor, Ann.
Sentencing Field, Judge Sweeney told him he had “lived by trickery and deceit and had been a well-trained and skilled liar”.
He added: “You further admitted how you could manipulate and maneuver people, no matter how skeptical they were, to achieve your goals without ever asking them directly.”
Since his conviction, Field has appealed his sentence twice, the first of which was rejected by the appeals court.
Field has been behind bars since February 2024.