Attempts

• Definition - s.1(1) Criminal Attempts Act 1981: If with intent to commit a crime, D does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the final offence

  • Case of White
• AR: s.1(1) D does an act which is more than merely preparatory

  • Gullefer - Must embark on the crime proper and go past the point of no return
  • Geddes - D's acts were merely preparation so not an attempt
  • Jones - D's acts were more than merely preparation so liable (attempted murder)
  • Boyle v Boyle - D's acts were more than merely preparation so liable (attempted burglary)
• MR: Intention to commit the final offence

  • If the offence has 2 MRs, apply the highest MR - Whybrow: intent to kill ONLY
  • Recklessness is not enough - Millard v Vernon
  • Conditional intent is enough for attempted theft
• Withdrawl can be used as a defence as long as D has not gone past the preparation stages - Taylor
• s.1(2) - Attempting the impossible is never a defence

  • Physical impossibility
  • Legal impossibility (Shivpuri)
  • Inadequate methods
• Attempting the impossible can only be a defence if D thinks that what they are doing is illegal, but it actually isn't