Attempted murder definition

Attempted murder is one of the most serious criminal offences and is treated as seriously as the completed offence of murder. It is triable only on indictment, meaning it can only be tried in the Crown Court and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the most serious of cases. However, with the right criminal defence solicitors, it is possible to successfully put forward one of the available defences where relevant or apply the correct mitigation to ensure you receive the best outcome possible for your case.

At Old Bailey Solicitors, our highly skilled and dedicated solicitors have significant experience with these types of cases and are well equipped to ensure that your case is given the work and attention needed for a successful conclusion. If you are under investigation or facing prosecution for an attempted murder offence, contact Old Bailey Solicitors as soon as possible in order to obtain the quality representation required to get the best result possible for your case.

In other words, attempted murder refers to a situation where an individual does an act, intending to kill the complainant, but either fails to do so or where the act is aborted part way.

Attempted murder definition: Every person who attempts by any

Unlike murder, which can require either an intention to kill or an intention to cause grievous bodily harm, attempted murder is only committed if there is an intention to kill. Therefore, for an individual to be convicted of attempted murder, it must be proven that they intended to kill the complainant and not just severely injure them.

In this way, attempted murder is actually more difficult to prove than murder. It is not necessary for severe injuries to have been caused, or for any physical contact or assault to have taken place at all, as long as it can be proven that the individual had the intention to kill the complainant. As well as making simple factual denials, there are a number of defences to the offence of attempted murder.

Due to the emphasis on the mental intention aspect of the offence, one specific defence to attempted murder is insanity.