| Attempts to commit offences |
| Attempt to commit offence |
| 511.—(1) A person attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code or by any other written law who, with the intention of committing that offence takes a substantial step towards the commission of that offence. [15/2019] (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an act is a substantial step towards the commission of an offence if it is strongly corroborative of an intention to commit the offence and the following are examples of acts which in the circumstances of each case may constitute taking a substantial step:| (a) | lying in wait, searching for or following the contemplated victim of the offence; | | (b) | enticing or seeking to entice the contemplated victim of the offence to go to the place contemplated for its commission; | | (c) | reconnoitring the place contemplated for the commission of the offence; | | (d) | unlawful entry of a place in which it is contemplated that the offence will be committed; | | (e) | possession of materials to be employed in the commission of the offence, that are specially designed for such unlawful use or that can serve no lawful purpose of the person in such possession under the circumstances; | | (f) | possession, collection or fabrication of materials to be employed in the commission of the offence, at or near the place contemplated for its commission, if such possession, collection or fabrication serves no lawful purpose of the person mentioned in subsection (1) under the circumstances; | | (g) | soliciting an innocent agent to engage in conduct constituting a physical element of the offence. [15/2019] |
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(3) A person may attempt the doing of a thing despite the existence of facts of which he is unaware which make the doing of the thing impossible. | | (a) A makes an attempt to steal some jewels by breaking open a box, and finds after so opening the box that there is no jewel in it. He has taken a substantial step towards the commission of theft, and therefore is guilty of attempted theft. |
| | (b) A makes an attempt to pick the pocket of Z by thrusting his hand into Z’s pocket. A fails in the attempt in consequence of Z’s having nothing in his pocket. A is guilty of attempted theft even though it was not possible for A to steal any thing from Z’s empty pocket. |
| | (c) When Z is not looking, A opens Z’s bag and takes away an electronic device with the intention of stealing it from Z. A genuinely believes that the electronic device belongs to Z but it in fact belongs to A, who had previously lent it to Z. A is guilty of attempted theft even though it was not possible for A to have committed theft of A’s own device. |
| | (d) A and Z are friends who share a room in which Z keeps a personal safe with a combination lock. A peeps at Z opening the safe in order to memorise the combination code to the safe. When Z is out of the room, A attempts to remember the code to unlock Z’s safe with the intention of stealing the cash in the safe. A tries several times but is unable to remember the code correctly before Z returns. A is guilty of an offence of attempted theft even though he could not have opened the safe because of his inept memory of the code. |
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[15/2019] |
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| Punishment for attempting to commit offences |
512.—(1) A person who attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code or by any other written law with death or imprisonment for life, shall, where no express provision is made by this Code or by such other written law for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning. | | A attempts to commit kidnapping of B in order that B may be murdered but did not succeed. If A had committed kidnapping in order to murder, he would have been punished with death or imprisonment for life (and would, if not sentenced to death, also be liable to caning). A shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning. |
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[15/2019] | (2) Subject to subsection (3), any person who attempts to commit an offence punishable by this Code or by any other written law (other than an offence mentioned in subsection (1)), shall, where no express provision is made by this Code or by such other written law for the punishment of such attempt, be punished with such punishment as is prescribed for that offence. [15/2019] |
(3) Despite subsection (2), where the punishment prescribed for an offence mentioned in that subsection is fixed by law, a specified minimum sentence or a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment or fine or caning, the court sentencing the person who attempted to commit the offence —| (a) | shall not be bound to impose such fixed, specified or mandatory minimum sentence; and | | (b) | may sentence the offender to such sentence or combination of sentences as the court thinks fit but not exceeding the maximum punishment prescribed for that offence. [15/2019] |
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(4) To avoid doubt, nothing in subsection (3)(b) empowers a court to impose a type of punishment that is not prescribed for an offence mentioned in subsection (2) or otherwise provided by any written law for that offence. | | A attempts to commit robbery but did not succeed. If A had committed robbery, he would have been subject to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of not less than 2 years and mandatory caning of a minimum of 6 strokes. As the court is not bound to impose the minimum mandatory punishment prescribed for robbery, A may be sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with no caning for attempted robbery. However, the court may not sentence A to a fine, as this is not a prescribed punishment for robbery but the court may sentence A to probation if he is a young offender. |
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[15/2019] |
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