The criminal law does not always wait for harm to happen. Where someone has tried, agreed, or helped to bring about a crime — even one that never takes place — they can still be convicted. These are the inchoate, or 'incomplete', offences, and they are central to charging decisions a solicitor advises on every day: knowing whether conduct that stops short of a completed crime is still a prosecutable offence, and on what terms.
This lesson builds your understanding step by step, from what these offences are through to how they are charged and sentenced.
- Nature of Inchoate Offences — what 'inchoate' means, the three offences, and how this differs from being an accessory.
- Attempt — the conduct and intent required, and which offences can be attempted.
- Impossibility and Withdrawal — when impossibility excuses, when it doesn't, and why pulling out is no defence.
- Conspiracy — the agreement at the heart of the offence and the intent each party must hold.
- Encouraging or Assisting Crime — the three statutory offences, what each requires, and the defences available.
- Charging, Merger and Sentencing — alternative verdicts, how an attempt merges into the full offence, and the sentencing rule.