R v Shivpuri [1987] AC 1

Court: House of Lords

Facts: The defendant (D) was intercepted by police while he was expecting a delivery of what he believed to be heroin and cannabis. In reality, the substances were harmless vegetable matter, not controlled drugs. D was charged with attempting to deal in Class A drugs, despite the substances being non-illicit.

Held: The House of Lords upheld D's conviction. They ruled that factual impossibility (i.e., the object of the crime turning out to be innocent) is not a defense to a charge of attempting to commit a crime. The decision overruled the principle set in Anderton v Ryan, establishing that the defendant's belief and intent to commit the crime are sufficient to constitute an attempt, even if the crime was factually impossible.

Key Judicial Statement: Lord Lane explained, "An attempt is criminal even if the defendant's belief about the nature of the object is mistaken; factual impossibility does not negate the attempt."

💡Levelup : This case is a landmark decision in English criminal law, illustrating that the law of attempts does not require the crime to be factually possible, only that the defendant believed he was engaging in criminal activity.