Maids Moreton murderer Ben Field, who was jailed for killing a university lecturer he conned, has been forced to sell his flat to pay compensation to his victims’ families.

Field, who was 28 when he was jailed in 2019, was described as “evil and calculating” by police after he was found guilty of Peter Farquhar’s murder.

At his trial, he admitted that he befriended and later became engaged to the 69-year-old, gave him drugs to confuse him, and then inherited his home when he died in October 2015.

He was found not guilty of planning to kill Mr Farquhar’s neighbour Ann Moore-Martin but admitted defrauding her.

Field bought a flat in Towcester using the money he had obtained by convincing Mr Farquhar to add him as a beneficiary to his will and giving him half his house when he died.

In a new update, police have confirmed that property has now been sold with the proceeds used to compensate the families of his victims.

Thames Valley Police said of the original £146,561.02 order made, a “varied down” sum of £124,655.03 has been paid.

A reduction of £21,966.29 was taken off the total, accounting for “sale price, fees and monies used for repairs to market sale”, police said.

The order comes after the release of the TV drama based on the story of Ben Field, called The Sixth Commandment.

Starring Timothy Spall and Anne Reid, the show was released to critical acclaim.

Field, the son of a Baptist minister, was a student when he met Mr Farquhar in April 2011 and realised that the English teacher was conflicted about his homosexuality.

He set about befriending him and the two men became engaged.

Mr Farquhar was found dead in his home in October 2015 – he was slumped on the sofa next to a half-empty bottle of whiskey – and an inquest concluded that the death was alcohol-related.

Field had killed him and successfully made it look like he had drunk himself to death, with police not treating it as murder until March 2017.

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Before the killing, Field had tried to drive Mr Farquhar to suicide by drugging him and encouraging him to drink.

He also gave him “10 Battle Raps” as a Christmas present – a collection of “extremely insulting” rhymes about the retired academic that he found deeply upsetting.

In response, Mr Farquhar wrote a poem in which he described Field as “laughably vain”, “deceptive and disloyal”, and as having a “poisoned head”.

Field is currently serving a 36-year prison sentence.

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