GDL - Attempts

Question 1

Would preparation and planning constitute an attempt?

Answer 1

No, this would not make you criminally liable for an offence. Only once you take steps does an inchoate offence occur

Question 2

an inchoate offence

Answer 2

unfinished or incomplete offences

Question 3

actus reus for an attempt

Answer 3

‘An act which is more than merely preparatory’

Question 4

Who decides whether the actions of the accused are more than merely preparatory?

Answer 4

the jury, providing that the judge is satisfied that the actions are capable of being more than merely preparatory

Question 5

mens rea for an attempt

Answer 5

the accused must intend to bring about the consequences required for the full offence

Question 6

mens rea for attempted murder

Answer 6

necessary to prove that the defendant intended to kill

Question 7

Impossibility through inadequacy

Answer 7

where the crime itself is perfectly feasible, but the defendants adopt or seek to adopt, a method that cannot work e.g. poisoning with a harmless substance

Question 8

Can you be convicted of an attempt if your method was doomed to fail?

Answer 8

Yes - a defendant who sets out to kill should not get off simply because they choose a method that is doomed to fail

Question 9

Can you be convicted of an impossible crime?

Answer 9

Yes, if you think you are committing a crime, you will be convicted of an attempt, eventhough the crime itself was not possible (eg stabbing a corpse with intention to kill while thinking the body is alive = attempted murder)

Question 10

For which offences can you not be charged for an attempt?

Answer 10

you cannot be committed for an attempt of summary offences (assault, battery etc.)

Question 11

Threshold for ‘more than merely preparatory’

Answer 11

D must get to a point where, if they wished to do so, they could commit the offence