A person is guilty of attempting to commit an offence if they do an act that is more than preparatory to the commission of the offence, with the intention of committing an offence. An attempt is an offence of specific intent. It requires an intention to commit an offence. The offence itself consists of both a criminal act and a mental state. In each case it is a question of fact whether the accused has gone sufficiently far towards the full offence to have committed the act of the attempt. If the accused has passed the preparatory stage the offence of attempt has been committed and it is no defence that they then withdrew from committing the completed offence.

Most attempts at committing criminal offences will be governed by section 1 of the Criminal attempts Act 1981 (CAA 1981), although some statutory exceptions apply. These include:

1. •

   Burglary under section 9(1)(b) of the Theft Act 1968 (TA 1968), and

2. •

   using a firearm to resist arrest under section 17 of the Firearms Act 1968 (FiA 1968)

CAA