Incomplete offences

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There may be circumstances where a defendant fails, for one reason or another, to commit a complete offence. For example:

  1. •

    they may be interrupted in the commission of an offence

  2. •

    their participation may amount to encouraging the commission of an offence by another, or

  3. •

    they may be party to an agreement with at least one other person to commit an offence

It is not necessary for a full offence to have been committed for a prosecution to take place in these circumstances as a defendant may be guilty of an offence on the basis of:

  1. •

    attempt

  2. •

    encouraging or assisting a crime, or

  3. •

    conspiracy

Incomplete offences always relate to a substantive offence and cannot be charged on their own. Therefore, an indictment must be drafted with reference to the complete offence, eg conspiracy to murder or attempted wounding. See Practice Note: The indictment.

Most incomplete offences should not be mixed together, eg it is not an offence to attempt to conspire.

Attempt

Most attempts will be governed by the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 (CAA 1981). A defendant

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