The Sixth Commandment (2023) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Thank you very much.
That's much better. Thank you.
You're welcome.
I do beg your pardon,
David, I missed that.
He's had his trousers stolen.
They've pulled out a pair of joggers
for him.
Look like they'd been chewed
by dogs.
I mean, who steals half a suit?
You could say to your client that,
as he's already
in the face of overwhelming
evidence,
decided to plead guilty to drugging
and will fraud,
he might as well cop
to the murders, too.
Spare his sartorial blushes.
Pleading guilty to the lesser
charges
does not make him guilty of murder
and attempted murder.
Seems like we've been waiting
for ever for this day.
It's, er It's good
that we're starting with him
saying he's guilty for some of it.
That's what I'm told.
It's It's good.
He doesn't think he's guilty.
He's trying to make himself
look better.
He'll get done for the fraud
and the drugging,
get off for the murders.
It's a game to him.
This isn't a trial as far
as he's concerned.
It's the Ben show.
He'll be loving every moment.
Out you come. Right.
This way? Straight through.
In you come.
Thank you. Could you stop there?
That's it. Stop there.
OK, we're about to start.
It could be a while before
you get called.
Is he going to get away with this?
I keep thinking that he's going to
get away with it.
We've done everything we can in
terms of the evidence,
but I can't make promises, Ian.
You know that.
I-I need some fresh air.
I'm just going to
..get a walk.
I'll call if there's anything.
I'll get some coffees, yeah?
How are you doing?
He still hasn't pleaded guilty
to drugging my aunt?
No, he hasn't.
I'm going to need a screen, Mark.
I can't have him watching me.
Court rise.
Mr Saxby.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Some quick introductions.
I'm Oliver Saxby, Queen's Counsel,
and I represent the prosecution.
My learned friend, David Jeremy
Queen's Counsel,
represents Ben Field.
My learned friend, Tim Moloney,
Queen's Counsel,
represents Martyn Smith.
And we appear before
The Honourable Mr Justice Sweeney.
This case concerns the murder
of a 69-year-old man,
Peter Farquhar,
and the attempted murder of
an 83-year-old woman,
Ann Moore-Martin.
The motive for Ben Field
was financial gain
but the means were intricate,
laced with a profound fascination
in controlling and manipulating
and humiliating and killing.
To carry out his grand design,
Ben Field needed help,
and in Martyn Smith
he found it.
Smith got carried away in Field's
world of plotting,
deceit and death,
and you may end up thinking
he was in thrall to him.
Over the course of this trial,
you will hear evidence
that comes directly
from Ben Field's own journals.
You will hear of covert,
regular drugging,
alcohol poisoning,
the numerous ways to make murder
look like accident or suicide.
You will hear evidence of
extreme gaslighting
and psychological manipulation.
All to frighten,
to isolate,
to make a person terrified
for their sanity.
Mr Farquhar.
Yes? We're ready for you now.
Poor Sue and Ian.
Think about what they're going to
have to listen to.
I can't bear it.
My brother and I made a promise
to each other,
that neither of us would ever let
drink rule our lives.
I found it hard to believe that he
would go against his word.
Peter just wasn't that kind of man.
But at the time, we were persuaded
that he had a serious problem.
So we did what Ben advised.
And what was that?
Peter was so ill
..that I wanted to do what was right
for my brother.
When Peter came out of
the care home,
was there any alcohol in the house?
No. How did a bottle of whisky
come to be in the house?
It had been left there
by Martyn Smith.
Please bring in the defendants.
Thank you very much.
Do I just stay here?
Yes, just stay there.
OK, thank you. You're welcome.
Is she there now? Yes.
What did your aunt tell you
about Ben Field,
about their relationship?
She told me that he'd said
he was in love with her.
And that he'd proposed to her.
At the time,
were you aware that there
was an intimate
..element to their relationship?
That he'd taken explicit photographs
of your aunt?
No.
We know now that Ben Field
was writing messages
on the mirrors in her house,
messages that your aunt believed
were coming from God.
Did you know about
the mirror writing?
No.
And how was her health
..in this period where she was
spending so much time with Field?
She told me that she had been
having hallucinations
and nightmares.
I-I saw her having, er,
seizures and extreme hallucinations
in the hospital.
And when she was in the care home?
They stopped.
She picked up.
But coming to terms with what
had happened
It was agony for her.
That she'd been seduced by him.
She was tortured by it.
Did you enjoy having sex with her,
Ben?
Ben?
Ben, did you have sex with Peter
as well?
I'm not coming back.
People taking photos,
cameras everywhere.
The kids at school don't need
their teacher's face
all over the news. Our girls
certainly don't need it.
Where is the bloody car, Simon?
It's just over there.
You know, you were brilliant
in there.
You were. I mean, you really held it
together.
Just
You know, I'm not the one to blame
for this!
No?
You were the one who said he was
just helping her out.
"Don't be so suspicious, Ann-Marie.
"He's just being a decent
human being."
If you hadn't said that,
then maybe Maybe what?
Go on. No, say it. Maybe what?
Maybe she'd still be alive.
Or she wouldn't have died
the way she did -
so ashamed of herself.
Pulled apart in court like her life
was nothing,
just somebody that terrible things
were done to!
When Martyn was living with you,
did you get on?
Yes, I thought we did.
It's the prosecution's case that
Martyn conspired to defraud you
because a copy of your will
was found on his laptop
and he'd printed copies using
the university printer.
That's right.
Do you remember asking Martyn
to help you
make amendments to your will?
No.
Can I put a few things to you
to try and jog your memory?
Oh, you can. I don't know that
you'll manage it.
You had some handwritten notes
and you sat with Martyn as he made
the amendments.
The printer at your home
wasn't working,
and so Martyn printed off
three copies
at the university for you.
No, I don't remember that.
T-That's not to say that it
didn't happen,
it's just that I don't remember it.
My memory is not as good as it was.
Thank you, Mrs Zettl.
Thank you.
Oh, God!
Wait there.
Thank you.
Can you wait there?
Just take some deep breaths, Martyn.
Keep your head up. You've done
nothing wrong.
Thank you.
How many bedrooms were there
in Mr Farquhar's house?
Three.
There was the main room,
which was Peter's.
I had the box room.
And there was the study.
Ben slept in there on a fold-up bed.
Were you aware of the intimate
nature
of Ben and Peter's relationship?
No.
N-Not at the time.
Not till much later.
When you were living at Peter's,
did you have any psychological
issues?
Yes, I had counselling
for anxiety and depression.
Did you know that Ben Field
was defrauding
and covertly drugging
Peter Farquhar?
No.
When Peter was unwell,
would you give him
his normal medications?
Yes, er
B-Ben would tell me what to give him
and at what times.
Were you surprised when
the neurologist
Peter consulted gave a diagnosis
of alcohol abuse?
Yes. I-I didn't think that was
a problem for him.
ButI believed it.
Who told you the diagnosis?
Ben did.
When Peter Farquhar came
out of the care home,
recovered from his symptoms,
you stayed at his house the night
before he died.
I-I'd left the bottle
hidden in the bed.
I texted Ben in the morning
to say I'd left it there
and that Peter wasn't happy
he brought it.
What did you do the rest of that day
and the night Peter Farquhar died?
I just went to the pub with friends.
Drank too much.
And when you discovered
Peter Farquhar was dead,
having found the whisky
and drunk it?
I was very upset.
Very I, er
I felt terrible.
How could you not know about the
nature of the relationship
between Peter Farquhar
and Ben Field?
I didn't know.
They were sleeping in the same bed,
next door to your room.
It was under your nose.
I-I was working.
I always had my earphones on.
Did you know about Ben Field's
relationship
with Ann Moore-Martin?
That it was romantic?
Yes. I thought that was
their business.
It's not for me to judge.
Did you know he was defrauding
Ann Moore-Martin?
No. No, not till much later. No.
But you knew Ben was writing
messages on Ann's mirrors,
apparently from God,
and those messages were part of
his plot to inherit her house?
I didn't know about his plan.
I didn't know.
Ann wanted to hear from angels.
I thought it was about, er,
trying to make her happy
with something that she wanted.
Are you going to keep to this line?
What line?
That you didn't know that
Ben Field was defrauding
Ann Moore-Martin and Peter Farquhar,
that Ben Field was drugging
Peter Farquhar,
that Ben Field was in an intimate
relationship with Peter Farquhar.
I didn't know.
That's convenient,
because if you did know
..that would put you right
at the centre
of a murder plot, wouldn't it?
Oh, Jesus Christ.
Mr Blake? Mr Blake?
Mr Blake, a question?
Simon? Gabrielle Aide, Daily Mail.
Just wanted to ask about your wife's
aunt and Ben Field?
My family are in there. Pricks!
I just want to talk
Simon, this way! She'll be paid
for an exclusive interview.
It'll be good to get her side
of the story!
It's pretty shocking what
her aunt got up to!
Fuck off.
Ann-Marie?
Tell us more about
your Auntie Ann
..and Ben Field! Ann-Marie?
How long have they been out there?
Long enough.
Auntie Ann isn't supposed to be
the one on trial.
Hey, don't worry about them, girls.
They'll be gone soon.
Yeah.
Let's finish the film, OK?
Ready?
The defence calls
Benjamin Luke Field.
I do solemnly, sincerely
and truly declare
and affirm that the testimony I will
give shall be the truth,
the whole truth and nothing
but the truth.
You admit that you defrauded,
drugged and gaslighted Mr Farquhar?
Yes, I did it vindictively.
You admit to a fraud perpetrated
on Ann Moore-Martin
that relates to her will? Yes.
Now, in addition to what
you've admitted
in relation to drugging, defrauding
and gaslighting Mr Farquhar,
you are also charged
with his murder.
Did you murder him?
I did not.
When you administered drugs to him
and gaslighted him,
did you intend to kill him?
No.
Did you conspire to murder
Ann Moore-Martin?
I did not.
Did you attempt to murder her?
I did not.
Did you give her drugs or try
to poison her?
Never.
How do you think Ann Moore-Martin
felt
as she pieced together the deceit
that you had practised upon her?
Incredible hurt and anger at being
betrayed by me,
and sadness at being my victim.
It's a miserable thing.
Are you just mouthing
the sort of things
that you think you should be saying?
Or are you expressing true
sentiments?
True sentiments.
But you have lied.
To Mr Farquhar and his family.
To Ann Moore-Martin and her family.
To Martyn Smith. To the Church.
To everybody.
I lived a very cruel
and deceitful life, yes.
Why did you initially start
drugging Mr Farquhar?
To get some sleep.
I was working long shifts
at the care home.
I'd be exhausted and want to sleep,
but
..Peter had an active fantasy life
on the internet.
He He'd stay awake,
looking at particular websites.
Then he'd wake me up, lifting up
the duvet to look at me,
touching my body,
taking photos of me while
I was asleep,
which would wake me up
Liar!
Liar, liar!
Damn you!
Damn you! Damn you to hell!
That's how it started.
Later, it was motivated by cruelty.
I gave him psychoactives
to be cruel.
I wanted him to be
..publicly humiliated.
He's trying to make the jury hate
Peter because he was gay.
That's what he's trying to do.
Come on. Let's go, yeah?
The Crown's case is that you
murdered Peter,
either by giving him alcohol
and benzodiazepines
so that he suffered asphyxiation,
or
..in the event of that not
being enough
..you suffocated him.
No.
I I went to see him that night,
we drank ginger beer,
watched some television.
Then I left to see friends
for my birthday
and the last I saw of him was waving
goodbye at the front door.
You didn't block his airway
and cause his death?
No.
I was never physically violent
to Peter.
I wrote violent things.
When I was angry and irritated
with him,
I'd fantasise hitting him with
a hammer.
But I didn't do it.
It helped to write it down.
It drained the anger.
I've always used writing that way.
I I write a thought
and then it's done.
And I-I'm trying to be more
interesting to myself
when I write so sometimes
it's more extreme.
To be interesting.
The Crown's case is that you
meticulously planned
Mr Farquhar's murder
in your journals.
In the same books I write how
I'm going to take over
Greenland and the Pitcairn Islands.
But I'm hardly going to do that,
am I?
Invade Greenland?
They're just thoughts.
Not plans for action.
I'm I'm thinking with
a pen in my hand.
I've considered the issue
of interiority
in relation to myself
and the way I live.
Explain interiority?
Living inside your own head.
Being kind of an ironic spectator
on your own life.
The Crown's case is that
Martyn Smith
was your co-conspirator and aided
and abetted you.
Martyn knew nothing.
I rigged Peter's daily medication
so he would be taking them
when Martyn was there.
I abused his genuine nature.
I feel very ashamed of how
I manipulated him.
How did you feel when
Peter Farquhar died?
Very unhappy.
I I treated him badly.
I grieved his loss.
I miss him.
Thank you.
Ten o'clock tomorrow morning for
your cross-examination, Mr Saxby.
Court rise.
28-year-old Benjamin Field
and 32-year-old Martyn Smith
both deny the charges
Hello? Oh, hi, Simon?
Er, it's Jeni here from the Daily
What's wrong with you?
Look what he's done to us!
Everything is Ben.
Everything is fucking Ben!
Argh! Argh!
Oh, well done. Yeah, punch a wall -
that makes sense.
Shit!
OK, one last time.
Which exhibit proves murder?
Same drugs as found in Peter's hair.
Field and Smith's fingerprints
on the sachets.
Field's journals.
He writes about endgames
for Ann and Peter.
Filming Peter when he's
hallucinating.
Taking photos of Ann to
blackmail her.
He calculates the ratio of alcohol
to sedative -
at what point would it be fatal?
Possible use of force-feeding
Possible, not proven.
Which exhibit will prove murder?
What's Field's defence?
That he wasn't there.
Plain and simple.
"I wasn't there, M'lud.
"Prove that I was."
So which exhibit,
which piece of evidence,
proves without a shadow of doubt
that he was there?
There isn't a single one.
It's all of them.
All of the coincidences.
I loved her, too, you know?
I mean, I really loved her.
I know you did.
I know.
It's just
..while this is going on.
When he's convicted,
when he's in prison and there's
justice for Auntie Ann,
and not what he's admitted to,
what he's lying about,
when he's found guilty of that,
it'll be over.
I promise.
And what if he doesn't get
convicted for her?
That's not going to happen.
It does happen.
Guilty people get away with it.
It happens all the time.
Do you feel responsible for Peter
Farquhar's death?
That he drank the whisky was
something he did, by himself.
It killed him.
I had no involvement.
You like words, don't you?
Words. The written word is a
reprieve from feelings.
You said as much to my learned
friend.
If I said as much, then, yes.
You had thoughts of killing him?
Yes.
Thoughts.
You wrote
"I moved in so he could die."
You did move in. He did die.
That speaks for itself.
It depends who's saying it.
Peter was frightened of dying alone.
When we first started sharing a bed,
he said, "Now I can die happy."
I'd like to play the jury a rap
that you composed.
Thank you, Sergeant Earl.
# Ben means a mountain
You're amounting to nothing
# Benjamin's my right hand
by which I'll allow you to suffer
# And Field is the soil of
the ground I'll put you under
# You'll never get to the level
that I'd likened to an Everest
# A fitter thinker, guess you'll
never be the cleverest
# Let's keep him guessing
# He's my guest
and I'll find that he'll need help
# The hospitality I give him
is a hospital visit
# And nobody else is gonna
come to support
# Because we all know this faggot
needs to be thrown overboard
# And now it's time
for a crimson tide
# And I am king and
I will reside on the throne
# And you know
That I can kill this guy. ♪
You were smiling.
It It was funny, hearing it
in this serious environment.
Incongruous.
Are those words
a reprieve from feeling?
They're battle bars.
They're composed in the combative
style of that art form.
You're good at lying
and duping people?
I've admitted as much.
Peter was taken in.
He was in love with you.
Did you ever think there was a time
when he'd start
to piece it together?
Before he rumbled you?
I can't recall
if I thought that or not.
Let's look at the evening
of Peter's death.
Your case, your account of it,
is that Peter drank
half a bottle of very strong whisky.
That's your case.
Yes, but I I wasn't present.
We drank ginger beer, I left.
Had you slipped him something?
No. You had in the past dosed him
with eight times the normal amount
of the sleeping tablet
he'd been prescribed.
Eight times the amount.
You have, in the past, dosed him
with all manner of substance.
But not that night? No.
You'd adulterated his drink before.
Port in red wine, vodka in whisky,
poteen, a notoriously strong Irish
whiskey in his usual nightcap.
He had no idea what
he was really drinking, did he?
But not that night.
No. Just ginger beer and then
you left.
OK, let's consider your version.
Let's imagine what that looks like.
Oh, lights, Martyn.
What term in zoology
derives from the Latin for "to sit"
and means immobile?
Southampton, Sadler. Sessile.
Sessile is correct.
Did he often drink in the dark?
Not that I'm aware.
I can't tell you what his reasons
were for turning off the lights.
You were there when he died,
weren't you? No.
"As we remark on Peter Farquhar
"Be reminded Peter died
"Repeated disorder
"Hoist his petard
"Went unpardoned and petrified."
"Petrified". Was he?
I don't know. I wasn't there.
Why use that word?
In the sense that
he's frozen in time.
Petrified means terrified.
Well, you do know words can
have more than one meaning.
Let's not be silly.
You said Mr Farquhar
was frightened of dying alone.
Well, he didn't, did he?
He did, because I wasn't there.
Petrified, was he?
I don't know, I wasn't there.
Hammer. Poteen. Strap.
The strap is suffocation?
Did you suffocate Mr Farquhar?
I wasn't there.
How was your fingerprint
on the inside of the glass?
I don't know. Probably from
when I'd moved it some other time.
Why was the glass on the floor?
I don't know. I wasn't there.
Your defence case is that
you did all these things -
the drugging, the gaslighting,
the defrauding -
because you're a nasty person?
An unhappy person who enjoyed lying,
who was cruel and deceitful
for the pleasure of it,
who was an, er What was it?
"An ironic spectator
of his own life,
"who wanted to be interesting
to himself."
All your journals, your plans,
the raps, the poems, the plots,
just thoughts, just words,
thinking with a pen in your hand.
Not guilty of murder, just nasty.
All of this was nothing to do with
killing Peter Farquhar
and attempting to kill
Ann Moore-Martin.
That's a cartoon version of my case.
All right,
let's consider the Crown's version,
with the agreed facts in mind,
with your words to guide us.
Let us contemplate
Peter Farquhar's last night.
University Challenge
Hey.
I wasn't expecting you tonight.
Thought I'd pop in,
see how you're doing.
Did you?
You sulking?
I'm watching the television.
You're sulking.
I'm making tea. You want one?
Mm.
What's this bottle doing here?
Martyn left it.
Did you drink some?
I was pouring it down the sink.
But then I thought, "No, no,
that's not fair. It's Martyn's.
"Ben can take it to him."
What a strange thing to do.
Bringing alcohol into the house
when you'd arranged to have
all my wine and spirits collected
by my brother and taken away because
I can't control my drinking,
when I've been so desperately ill,
when I was so scared,
when I thought I was dying,
when I told you
I thought I was dying,
you bring whisky into my house.
What a wicked, strange thing.
Calm down, it was a present.
Got left behind by mistake.
No need to shit your pants over it.
Nothing you ever do
is by mistake, Ben.
For fuck's sake.
You see, I've been thinking
Now that I can think.
Now that my head is clear.
I think you liked it
when I was in a care home.
I think you wanted me
to drink that whisky.
"Poor Peter.
Poor sad, old, pathetic Peter,
"the dipsomaniac, closeted queen.
"He'd better go
back into the care home."
And then you could carry on
using my house as your own.
I think that was your plan.
Hmm
I like to think
I'm more ambitious than that.
How quickly I forgave you
everything.
Every lie, every transgression.
Because you were beautiful.
Because I was
so entirely in love with you.
I was the more deceived.
Here comes fucking Hamlet.
You never had any feelings
for me at all.
No affection.
No respect. No love.
Peter Did you?
I weally, weally woved you.
You are a cruel young man.
And then shall the eyes
of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf
be unstopped.
I see you now.
Help!
Help me, please, please.
Argh!
Shh, shh, shh, shh!
No
Benplease.
Ben
He didn't die alone, did he?
And he WAS terrified, wasn't he?
You know that
because you were there.
I deny that completely.
Words.
It all depends on who's saying them.
"Went unpardoned and petrified".
You were present.
You were there.
Glorifying in his fear.
I'll call you later.
Court rise!
Bring the jury in, please.
My Lord, the jury have been
in deliberation for 19 days.
Would the defendants please stand?
Would the foreman of the jury
please stand?
To my next question,
please answer yes or no.
Have you reached verdicts
upon which you are all agreed?
Yes.
On the count of conspiracy to murder
Peter Anthony Scott Farquhar,
how do you find the defendant
Martyn Smith,
guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
On the count of attempted
murder of Ann Moore-Martin,
how do you find the defendant
Benjamin Luke Field?
Guilty or not guilty?
Not guilty.
Not guilty.
On the count of the murder
of Peter Anthony Scott Farquhar,
how do you find the defendant
Benjamin Luke Field?
Guilty or not guilty?
Guilty.
Guilty.
I'd like to thank the jury
for their hard work
and dedication in this matter.
Thank you.
Martyn Smith, you are free to go.
Benjamin Field,
you will return to this court
at a future date for sentencing.
Just breathe, Martyn.
It's over now.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hello?
OK.
Thanks for telling me.
I used to bring you here
when you were little.
Just the two of us.
To feed the ducks.
And then we'd have an ice cream
for a treat.
With raspberry sauce.
Yes!
And you'd get it everywhere.
I still do - ask Simon.
Face, hands, behind my ears
Ooh!
Oh. Is it kicking?
Like a horse!
Here
Ah!
It makes me so happy. Hmm.
A new life.
Aren't we lucky!
Good afternoon.
Today, Ben Field has been sentenced
to life imprisonment
and will serve a minimum
of 36 years for his crimes.
The extent of his planning,
deception and cruelty
towards his victims
is frankly staggering,
and I do not believe he has shown
an ounce of remorse or contrition.
If he is sorry for anything,
it is that he got caught
and he is now facing
the next 36 years in prison.
Thank you.
Hmph!
According to prosecutors
Good.
..they were both lonely
and vulnerable,
living three doors away
from each other
in the picturesque village
of Maids Moreton
They're here.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I wanted us all to meet.
I've got something I want to say.
I know you've been put through
so much pain.
Well, so have you.
No, but you'd said goodbye
to Peter.
You'd had two years
believing a thing
that you could live with,
that he'd died.
You had your lives.
And then I threw a rock
and smashed everything.
And you had to find out all these
..these terrible things
that had been done.
You stopped him, Ann-Marie.
You stopped him.
Pale beneath the blaze
Hung the transparent foliage
And I watched some broad
and sunny leaf
And loved to see the shadow
Of the leaf and stem above
Dappling its sunshine
Whilst thou stood gazing or
..When all was still
Flew creaking o'er thy head
And had a charm for thee
My gentlehearted Charles
To whom no sound is dissonant
Which tells of life.