‘All my close relationships are coloured by deception’
Church warden accused of killing pensioner tells jury how he routinely indulged in ‘serious deceit’
A CHURCH warden accused of drugging and murdering his former English lecturer as part of an elaborate con yesterday admitted that every relationship he has ever had was ‘coloured by deception’.
Ben Field, 28, allegedly suffocated Peter Farquhar, 69, and tried to kill his neighbour Ann moore-martin, 83, after a campaign of ‘gaslighting’ – manipulating them to make them question their sanity.
mr Farquhar, a novelist, died in october 2015, while miss moore-martin, who lived a few doors away in the village of maids moreton, Buckinghamshire, died of natural causes in may 2017.
Field, the son of a Baptist minister and a former lib Dem councillor, is on trial at oxford Crown Court alongside magician martyn smith, 32.
He has admitted pretending to be in a relationship with mr Farquhar, whom he met while a student at the University of Buckingham, and miss moore-martin to trick them into changing their wills in his favour. But he denies murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors say Field is ‘incapable of forming normal, empathetic friendships’. And yesterday the jury heard from the defendant for the first time as he admitted that all his close relationships, including with his family, were affected by his deception.
His parents, Rev Ian Field and his wife Bev, sat with their heads bowed throughout the hearing.
David Jeremy QC, defending, asked him: ‘Did you suffocate him, Peter Farquhar? Administering drugs and gaslighting him? Did you intend to kill him?’ Field replied: ‘I did not.’ mr Jeremy con
‘The essential lie was that I loved him’
tinued: ‘Did you conspire to murder Ann moore-martin? Did you attempt to murder Ann moore-martin? Give her drugs or tried to poison her? Encouraged or assisted her to commit suicide?’ Field replied: ‘I did not. Never.’
mr Jeremy asked: ‘Did you talk to her about suicide?’
He replied: ‘Yes, I spoke to her about it on several occasions. I thought it seemed very unlikely that she would.’
When asked about his family life, he later told his barrister: ‘Absolutely everybody I’ve had any relationship with I have lied to.’
He agreed that he indulged in ‘serious deceit’ rather than minor lies. ‘I feel inadequate so it is more pleasant to pretend to not be myself,’ he said.
Field admitted ‘gaslighting’ mr Farquhar, a retired head of English at prestigious stowe school, by moving his belongings around in an attempt to make him doubt his sanity.
He said he did it to ‘irritate him – I did it vindictively and to confuse him’.
Questioned about the ‘essential lie’ in his two-year relationship with mr Farquhar, he said: ‘ the essential lie was that I loved him.’
Asked about his motivation, he replied: ‘to inherit. to increase my status in his mind and his life and thereby stand to inherit when he ultimately died.’
Field agreed that he also told miss moore-martin that he loved her.
‘I was pretending to have a real relationship with her – that was false,’ he told the jury. ‘Again, to gain from her, to get her to change her will and, when she died, to inherit from her.’
Field also admitted that in the past he had offered himself for sex with men on the internet for money. Asked about his motivation, he said: ‘I think money was a secondary thing. I think it was just about trying to push my own boundaries.’ He also admitted to shoplifting on several occasions when younger, receiving one caution.
Field and smith deny murdering mr Farquhar, conspiring to murder miss moore- martin and possessing an article for use in fraud.
Field, of olney, Buckinghamshire, also denies an alternative charge of attempting to murder of miss moore-martin. He has admitted four charges of fraud and two of burglary.
In addition, smith, of Redruth, Cornwall, denies two charges of fraud and one of burglary.
the court has previously heard how Field wrote messages purporting to be from God on mirrors around devout Catholic miss moore-martin’s home as part of his gaslighting campaign.
‘these messages were biblical in nature and miss moore-martin ended up believing they were messages from God – Field would speak of having received them too,’ said prosecutor oliver saxby QC. the trial continues.