Peter Farquhar

Peter Anthony Scott Farquhar (3 January 1946 – 26 October 2015) was a British teacher of English who taught at Manchester Grammar School and Stowe School. He later lectured at Buckingham University. He also wrote three novels. He was murdered on 26 October 2015 by his former student and lodger, Ben Field, with whom he was in a 'covenanted friendship.'

Early life
Peter Farquhar was born in Edinburgh on 3 January 1946, one of two sons to Adam Farquhar (1910-1974), a physician, and his wife Anne Farquhar (nee Scott) (1908-2002). Having spent most of his childhood in England, he was educated at Latymer Upper School in London and then Churchill College, Cambridge, where he achieved a first-class degree in English.

Career
Farquhar was a teacher of English for 34 years, firstly at Manchester Grammar School (1970–82) then Stowe School (1983–2004). From 2007 he was an occasional lecturer at University of Buckingham. He was described by his friend and former pupil at Manchester, Michael Crick, as having "an acute understanding of the problems of modern adolescent boys. For some, he became almost like a second father."

His first novel, A Wide Wide Sea, a coming-of-age story about three teenagers from Edinburgh who travel to France and Spain on a voyage of self-discovery, was written in 1997 but not published until 2015. It was published only after two Buckingham students, Ben Field (who later murdered Farquhar) and Martyn Smith, discovered the manuscript and persuaded Farquhar to submit it for publication. His novel, Between Boy and Man, was published in 2010. The plot was largely based on Farquhar's own experience at Stowe and concerned the struggle of a school chaplain to reconcile his Christian faith with his homosexuality.

The character of Dr Farquhar, played by Toby Stephens in the 2013 film Believe, directed by the former Manchester Grammar School pupil David Scheinmann, was partly based on Farquhar.



Farquhar was an evangelical Christian who was a lay minister and once considered seeking ordination. He worshipped and preached at Stowe Parish Church for 20 years.

Murder
Farquhar died in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, on 26 October 2015. His death was initially recorded as "accidental" as the result of acute alcohol ingestion. Evidence produced in court indicated that Farquhar was 'betrothed' (through a private informal ceremony) to his former student Ben Field in 2014. In January 2018, Field and magician friend Martyn Smith were arrested by police on suspicion of murdering Farquhar and attempting to murder his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, 83.

Smith had been staying at pensioner Liz Zettl's house. Zettl was friends with both Moore-Martin and Farquhar. Smith and Field were also accused of possessing a copy of Zettl’s will, with the intention of finding out how much the pensioner was 'worth', and it is believed that she was intended to be Field’s third victim. At the trial, Zettl became the oldest court witness in British history when she testified aged 101.

During his trial at Oxford Crown Court, Field admitted drugging Farquhar with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens to "torment" him, telling the jury that he did it "for no other reason other than it was cruel, to upset and torment Peter – purely out of meanness". He also spiked his drink with bioethanol and poteen in order to make him question his sanity. According to prosecutors, Field suffocated Farquhar when he was too weak to resist.

Conviction and sentence
On 9 August 2019, Field was convicted of Farquhar's murder. He was acquitted of the attempted murder of Ann Moore-Martin, who died of natural causes on 12 May 2017. Smith was acquitted of all charges. On 19 October 2019, Field was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 36 years.

Appeals
Field first appealed against his conviction in March 2021. It was argued at the Court of Appeal that the trial judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, misdirected the jury over the 'chain of causation' involved in Mr Farquhar's death – specifically, whether the victim was 'tricked' by Field into drinking whisky, or had done so out of choice. The appeal was rejected.

In January 2022 Field appealed a second time against his conviction, but this was also rejected.

In July 2023, it was reported that Field had applied for the Criminal Cases Review Commission to investigate whether to refer his case to the Court of Appeal.

Restitution of funds
In August 2023, Field paid more than £124,000 to the families of Farquhar and Moore-Martin, after he was ordered to sell his flat in Towcester following a court confiscation order.

Selected publications

 * Between Boy and Man. AuthorHouse, 2010. ISBN 978-1452039312
 * A Bitter Heart. AuthorHouse, 2012. ISBN 978-1477223451
 * A Wide Wide Sea. Farquhar Studies, 2015. ISBN 978-1326343385

In popular media
"A Diary From the Grave", a documentary about the murders, aired in January 2020 on Channel 4 as part of the Catching a Killer series.

Farquhar is depicted by Timothy Spall in the 2023 BBC One drama The Sixth Commandment written by Sarah Phelps about the gaslighting of Farquhar and Moore-Martin by Field and Farquhar's murder by Field. Moore-Martin is played by Anne Reid, whilst Field is played by Éanna Hardwicke, Smith by Conor MacNeill and Zettl by Sheila Hancock. The miniseries first aired in July 2023.