Attempted Murder?

[steepholm]

If I shoot someone, intending to murder them, only to find that that they were already dead when I fired the gun, does that still count as attempted murder under English law? And if not, what law have I broken - if any?

I hasten to add that this situation is purely hypothetical.

Comments

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember a mystery where that happened.

my guess, which is totally informed by genre fiction and TV, s that you'd probably end up being charged with some equivalent of violating/disturbing a corpse.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'd imagine it must happen more in fiction than in life - though it can hardly be unknown, either. It's strange to think that the same action taken with the same intention could result in such diverse legal outcomes as murder, attempted murder, and corpse disturbance (or criminal damage?), depending only on the felon's timing and skill, or lack thereof.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

Another factor, mostly out of the felon's control, that spells the difference between murder and attempted murder is the quality of the subsequent medical care.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

What if you aimed a gun at someone and he/she died of a heart attack from fear (or grief at your betrayal)? Then I would think you'd be culpable, no?

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you would, though whether for murder, manslaughter or threatening behaviour, I'm not certain. I rather like the grief option! Existential crime is grossly underreported these days.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

See Wikipedia on impossible attempts.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks - that's very helpful!