Knife-swap at ‘wedding’

CHURCH warden Ben Field committed himself to Peter Farquhar at a bizarre ‘betrothal’ ceremony where the two men exchanged knives as a show of mutual and abiding love, the court heard.

‘It is one of the happiest moments of my life. Gone are the fears of dying alone,’ the novelist wrote in his journal after the 2014 ceremony at a church in Hampstead, northwest London.

But despite Mr Farquhar’s joy, Field was in a number of liaisons with local women. As well as his sexual activities with Ann Moore-Martin, 83, who lived three doors away from Mr Farquhar, Field was involved with a Laura Busby, a Heather Joyce and care home worker Nina Eriksen-Grey.

His most significant lover of the period was University of Buckingham lecturer Setara Pracha, 49. Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC said witnesses described the pair as ‘very tactile’ and ‘various items connected with the defendant’ were found by police at her home.