Attempts

• s1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981: "If, with intent to commit an offence to which this section applies, a person does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence, he is guilty of attempting to commit the offence."
• The actus reus for an attempt is: a person does an act which is more than "merely preparatory".
• The mens rea for an attempt is: "intent to commit that offence"
• Attorney-General's Reference No 1 of 1992: "Need not have performed the last act before the crime proper, not need he have reached the "point of no return".
• Guellefer: "Embarked on the crime proper"
• Geddes: Had the defendant moved from planning or preparation to the execution or implementation?
• Tosti: Going beyond more than merely preparatory.
• Mens rea for an attempt would be the same as the normal offence, if the prosecution cannot prove that intention then the defendant is not guilty.

  Easom.
• The mens rea for attempted murder must be the intention to kill.

  Whybrow.
• s1 Criminal Attempts Act 1981: "A person may be guilty of attempting to commit an offence... even though the facts are such that the commission of the offence is impossible"

  Shivpuri.