There are three main inchoate offences in English law:

1. •

   conspiracy—where at least two people have agreed to commit a crime

2. •

   attempt—where the defendant has tried to commit the offence and has got relatively close to achieving the objective (see Practice Note: Attempt), and

3. •

   encouraging or assisting a crime (formerly incitement)—where the defendant must have encouraged or assisted another to commit a crime (see Practice Note: Encouraging and assisting criminality)

An inchoate offence is one that is incomplete. Such offences are committed where the defendant takes certain steps towards the commission of a crime, but the actions fall short of the consummated crime. The exception to this is conspiracy to defraud, where the result to be achieved does not need to be a crime. This particular offence is dealt with in a separate Practice Note: Conspiracy to defraud.

Inchoate offences cannot be charged on their own, ie there is no charge of conspiracy or attempt. There must be a substantive offence and the indictment must be drafted with reference to the complete offence, eg conspiracy