Quarter Sessions
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835702100102 |
| Published date | 01 January 1957 |
| Date | 01 January 1957 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Quarter Sessions
ATTEMPT TO COMMIT OFFENCE OR MERE PREPARATION
R. v. Wood
ATLincolnshire (Lindsey) quarter sessions on
roth
October
1956
the
point arose whether
the
conduct of
the
prisoner
amounted to an attempt to commit
the
offence charged
or
to
mere preparation.
The
prisoner was charged with attempting
to procure
the
commission of an act of gross indecency by
another male person (a police officer) with himself, contrary
to s.
II
of
the
Criminal
Law
Amendment Act 1885.
The
police officer named in
the
indictment, together with
another police officer, was in a compartment in a public
lavatory for
the
purpose
of
keeping watch.
The
prisoner
entered
the
next compartment and, after he had been
there
some time, passed through
the
partition between
the
com-
partments a piece of toilet paper on which were written
the
words
"How
old are you? Are you single?"
On
obtaining no
answer he passed through, some
ten
minutes later, another
similar piece of paper on which were written the words
"Why
don't
you answer?" and enclosing a'Biro' pen.
The
police
ofl?cers
then
interviewed
and
subsequently arrested
the
prisoner.
Counsel for
the
prosecution submitted
that
the
acts of
the
prisoner were capable of amounting to an attempt, inasmuch
as
the
terms of
the
communications were such
that
they would
have conveyed to
the
mind
of
the
recipient
that
the
prisoner
desired him to participate in homosexual conduct.
He
relied
on R. v.
Cope
(1921 16 Cr. App. R. 77), which he distinguished
from R. v.
Woods
(1930 22 Cr. App. R. 41) by reason of
the
fact
that
in
the
latter case
the
letter
purported
to be written
by a woman
and
would
not
have conveyed
the
same impression
to
the
mind
of
the
recipient.
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