Is The Sixth Commandment a true story? Real case of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin Maids Moreton deaths

The Sixth Commandment is a shocking new BBC crime drama about two real life interconnected crimes of a similar sinister nature.

The series, written by Dublin Murders writer Sarah Phelps, stars Éanna Hardwicke as twisted killer Benjamin Field, and Timothy Spall and Anne Reid as his elderly victims.

Field began a campaign of abuse, under the guise of a loving relationship, with a vulnerable man whom he hoped to exploit for as much money as possible. He then moved on to his next victim, who lived just three doors down from his first. 

The real crimes that the series is based on began less than a decade ago, and Field was only made to answer for them in 2019.  

This is everything you need to know about Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin, how they died, and what happened to Benjamin Field.  

Is The Sixth Commandment based on a true story?

Yes, the true crime drama series is based on the deaths of English teacher Peter Farquhar and his neighbour Ann Moore-Martin, a former headmistress, in Buckinghamshire.

Farquhar and Moore-Martin lived three doors down from each other in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, and died two years apart in mysterious circumstances.

The pair were also both religious, Faquhar was an evangelical Christian and had considered becoming a minister before starting in education, and Moore-Martin was a devout Catholic.

Both of them found themselves the target of PhD student and churchwarden, Ben Field, who set out to scam them both out of their hard-earned money.

The Sixth Commandment is a dramatisation of how Field tricked Farquhar and Moore-Martin into believing that he was in love them, before subjecting them to emotional abuse and hustling them for their money.

What happened to Peter Farquhar?

Peter Farquhar was lecturing at the University of Buckingham when he met Field, who was 40 years his junior, and the two began a relationship. Farquhar had long-struggled to reconcile being a gay man with his Christian beliefs and was emotionally vulnerable when he fell in love with Field.

They planned to get married and had a betrothal ceremony, after which Field moved into Farquhar’s home. Field soon began to poison Farquhar, spiking his food and tea with drugs and alcohol, and causing Farquhar to believe he was going mad. 

Field then manipulated his supposed lover into changing his will to make him the main beneficiary in the event of his death. He had hoped that his campaign of abuse against Farquhar would cause him to take his own life in desperation. 

However, Field became impatient and murdered Farquhar himself - he suffocated him with a pillow before leaving a half empty bottle of whisky near to his body so that it would look as though he had died from drinking too much.

At the time, Farquhar’s death was initially recorded as acute alcohol intoxication, and Field was not a suspect - he even read a eulogy at his funeral. Farquhar had left £15,000 and half his house to Field.

What happened to Ann Moore-Martin?

Moore-Martin met Field when she was 81 years old in November 2014, months after he had killed her neighbour, and they too began a romantic relationship.

He manipulated Moore-Martin in another attempt to gain money, causing her to isolate herself from her family. Field lied to her about his brother being ill and needing a dialysis machine, gaining £27,000 from her in this scheme.

Just as he had done with Farquhar, he got Moore-Martin to include him in her will. She became ill and in February 2017 was hospitalised following a seizuer.

Her niece alerted the police of her suspicions about Field and after an investigation, Moore-Martin removed Field from her will and stopped all contact with him. She died in May 2017.

What happened to Ben Field?

After Ann’s death, the police launched a double investigation into Field, as they had connected him to both Moore-Martin, and Farquhar.

The investigation involved hundreds of statements and required Farquhar’s body to be exhumed.

In 2019, he was found guilty of Farquhar’s murder and sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in jail. He was not found guilty for the murder of Moore-Martin. He launched two appeals against his conviction, both of which were dismissed. Field will not be eligible for parole until 2055.