Self-test questions: Inchoate offences

. Gillespie discovered that a huge consignment of used banknotes was to be moved from Birmingham to London by road, during the early hours of Monday. Gillespie spent the next few days secretly drawing up a plan for the interception and theft of that money. He contacted Blue, who 'agreed' to provide a lockup garage nearby in which the hijacked van could be concealed and unloaded. Unknown to Gillespie, Blue was working as a police informer, and at once passed the information on to the police.

Which of the following most accurately reflects the application of the law on parties to a crime in respect of this scenario?

. Doris, Arthur and Rose disliked Phyliss because she was always complaining about the staff at the assisted living housing complex where they all lived. Rose had overheard Phyliss saying that the care was so bad that she may as well be dead. Phyliss' complaining was spoiling the atmosphere of the community, so the three of them agreed that one of them should poison Phyliss during lunch by putting a mixture of their prescribed drugs in her drink. Rose had the mixture with her at lunch the next day, but Phyliss was unwell and did not attend. Doris, Arthur and Rose then changed their mind and did not carry out the plan.

Doris and Arthur are married to each other.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law in respect of conspiracy as it applies to Doris, Arthur and Rose?

. One evening at the local public house, an argument developed between Lewis and Ava on the one side, and a third person, Verity. Shortly afterwards, Verity left the pub whereupon Lewis and Ava agreed that they would follow her and, if a suitable opportunity arose, they would 'beat her up and put her in hospital for a month.' Five minutes later, however, a violent thunderstorm erupted, and so the plan was abandoned and Lewis and Ava stayed in the pub.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the criminal liability of Lewis and Ava for a conspiracy offence?

. Sonal and Sumar, sister and brother, have a business together that is not doing very well. They have accrued a large amount of debt and are facing bankruptcy. Their grandmother, Adrika, has been unwell for several months and is very frail. Upon her death, both Sonal and Sumar would inherit her house. Thinking that they would sell Adrika's house and save themselves from bankruptcy, Sonal and Sumar agree that they will poison Adrika that evening. Sonal planned to provide the powder from grinding down tablets that were prescribed to her, and Sumar agreed to put the substance into Adrika's last cup of tea.

When they arrived at Adrika's house that evening, they found that she had died in the morning, before they had formed their plan.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to inchoate offences as it applies to Sonal and Sumar?

. Michael owned and operated a currency exchange business. For the first year his turnover was quite low, but it increased dramatically the following year. Some of his clients had asked him to come to visit them in their homes, so that they did not have to attend his office. They would then exchange large amounts of money. Michael was suspicious that some of his clients may be involved in criminal activity, but continued to do business with them.

Which of the following statements is most in respect of the law relating to criminal conspiracies?

. Frieda did not have any money left from her universal credit payment and there was no food left at home. She took her daughter, Elise (aged 9), to the local supermarket after they discussed that Elise would put some food into a rucksack that they took to the shop.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law of criminal conspiracies as it applies to this scenario?

. After a disagreement at the local public house with Stan, Darren and Wayne discussed ideas about how to shut Stan up by killing him. They knew his address, which was a ground floor flat, and discussed how Darren would hide in a bus opposite the window of Stan's front room and shoot him when his back was turned away from the window. Wayne believed this was a hypothetical situation and had no intention of either him or Darren killing Stan. Darren carried out what they had discussed and shot Stan in the head when he was sat in a chair by the window. In fact, when a post mortem was carried out it showed that Stan had died in the night and was already dead when Darren shot him.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to inchoate offences as it applies to this scenario?

. Gerard decided to rob a rural shop. He drove thirty miles to get to the shop and was arrested by the police as he got out of his car carrying a shotgun and wearing a balaclava.

Would Gerard be criminally liable for an offence?

. Rita intended to kill her grandfather, Bill, and placed poison in his coffee when they visited a local coffee shop. Bill took a sip of the coffee, but died of a heart attack when he discovered on his tablet just how little tax the coffee shop paid. The poison had not taken effect.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law on inchoate offences that applies to this scenario?

. Scott walked home from his job at a laser tag company. On his way he saw an open door of a shop and through it he could see a £20 note on the counter. He decided to take the money and entered the shop to do so. It is at that point he discovered that the money was a picture and not real.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law on inchoate offences that applies to this scenario?

. Joseph wanted to buy his mother a present for her birthday, but he did not have any money to do so. He decided to go to a gift shop to see if there was anything there worth stealing. He took a knife out of his pocket and entered the shop. As soon as he had entered the shop he was arrested by an undercover police officer.

What offence, if any, would Joseph be charged with?

. Luke had seen the warning light on his car that his brake pads were worn out. He did not have enough money to get new brake pads put in at the garage and decided to drive the car as little as possible. One day his wife, Chen, noticed that they had run out of milk and got into Luke's car; she was also insured to drive it. She began to drive to the nearby supermarket, but unfortunately, she was seriously injured in a car accident. Forensics found that she had lost control of the car as the brakes had failed.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the relevant criminal law principles that applies to this scenario?

. Tessa printed a number of leaflets explaining her view that all men associated with Fathers for Justice had committed domestic abuse against their previous partners and their children. She stated on the leaflet that the reader should throw stones at men they knew who were affiliated with the organisation, as a gesture to shame them.

Which of the following statements is most accurate in respect to the law on inchoate offences in this scenario?

. Herbert has a gun shop and normally sells guns legally. However, Percy offered Herbert a substantial amount more than the asking price for one particular gun, on the condition that Herbert would overlook the fact that Percy did not have a current gun licence. Herbert accepted the deal and hoped that Percy would use it appropriately, although he believed this was unlikely as Percy had needed lots of advice about how to shoot the gun, which Herbert had given him.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to inchoate offences as it applies to this scenario?

. Archie buys a gun from Sol. Sol is happy to make a profit from the sale of the gun. However, he knows that Archie has a criminal record for committing robberies and has recently had an argument with Larson, a loan shark that charges his clients extortionate interest. Sol is not sure whether Sol will use the gun to rob Larson or to kill him.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the law relating to inchoate offences?

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