Anderton v Ryan

Anderton v Ryan
Court House of Lords
Citation(s) [1985] AC 560
Legislation cited Criminal Attempts Act 1981
Keywords
Attempt

Anderton v Ryan [1985] AC 560 is a House of Lords case in English law, on whether an offence which is impossible to commit is an attempt under s1 of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981.

Facts

A woman purchased a video cassette recorder (VCR) on the belief that it was stolen. She reported an unrelated burglary in her house to the police. While they were investigating the burglary, she confessed to having purchased the VCR she believed to be stolen. No evidence was found to confirm that the VCR had been stolen. She was convicted of attempted handling of stolen goods.[1]

Judgment

The House of Lords decided that impossibility was not covered by s1(2) of the Criminal Attempts Act.

The case R v Shivpuri reversed the decision only a year later and represents an example of the House of Lords reversing itself[2] under the Practice Statement 1966.

References

  1. ↑ John Child; David Ormerod (2017). Smith, Hogan, and Ormerod's Essentials of Criminal Law. Oxford University Press. p. 428. ISBN 978-0-19-878868-3.
  2. ↑ Gary Slapper; David Kelly (26 June 2009). English Law. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-135-21737-2.
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