Criminal Attempts

The current law:

• The current law on attempts is governed by the Criminal Attempts act 1981. The act states 'if with intent to commit an offence to which this section applies, a person does an act which is more than merely prepatory to the commission of the offence, he is guilty of attempting to commit the offence' 
• What this means is that the individual will be found guilty if they show conduct which is more than just preparation for the offence. There has to be a point of no return that the D has crossed. 
• This is usually left for the jury to decide.
• In general, summary offences cannot be the subject of an attempt. 

Actus Reus:

• A person does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the comission of the offence.  R v Gullefur (1987) decided that the D must have gone beyond purely preparatory acts and be 'embarked on the crime proper', when this occurs will depend on the facts.
• If D has not embarked on the crime proper, then it would seem there will be no charge of attempts. 

Mens Rea:

• The Criminal…