Sections 306 of the Criminal Code Queensland states:

Any person who-

(a) attempts unlawfully to kill another; or

(b) with intent unlawfully to kill another does any act, or omits to do any act which it is the person's duty to do, such act or omission being of such a nature as to be likely to endanger human life

is guilty of a crime.

The Maximum penalty for the offence of Attempted to Murder is life imprisonment.

In order for the Police to prove their case at Court, they must prove each of the following matters beyond a reasonable doubt.

The accused;

1. Had an intention to kill at the requisite time

2. Put the intention to kill into execution by means adapted to its fulfilment

3. Manifested the intention to kill by some overt act.

The concept of attempted murder is that someone unlawfully attacks or does something else to another person, intending to kill them and using means capable of doing so, but fails.

It will be necessary for the Police in every offence to prove that the accused was the person who committed the offence. Click here to learn more about identification evidence.

Possible defences to this offence include but are not limited to

1. The accused did not intend to kill at the time of or during the relevant act or acts inflicted on the victim

2. The accused did not carry out his intention to kill in a way suitable to bring about what he intended to achieve.

3. There was no manifestation of the intent to kill by some overt act. i.e. There was some act that, if an observer had been standing by, the observer could have seen.

4. Insanity

This matter is indictable which means it is dealt with in the Supreme Court.