The stages of Crime are enumerated below
- Intention– Intention is the first stage in the commission of an offence. But the law does not take notice of an intention, mere intention to commit an offence not followed by any act, cannot constitute an offence. The obvious reason for not prosecuting the accused at this stage is that it is very difficult for the prosecution to prove the guilty mind of a person.
- Preparation– Preparation is the second stage in the commission of a crime. It means to arrange the necessary measures for the commission of the intended criminal act. Intention alone or the intention followed by a preparation is not enough to constitute the crime. Preparation has not been made punishable because in most of the cases the prosecution has failed to prove that the preparations in the question were made for the commission of the particular crime. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For certain offences, even the preparation is made punishable.
- Attempt– Attempt is the direct movement towards the commission of a crime after the preparation is made. A person may be guilty of an attempt to commit an offence if he does an act which is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence; and a person will be guilty of attempting to commit an offence even though the facts are such that the commission of the offence is impossible. There are three essentials of an attempt:
- Guilty intention to commit an offence;
- Some act done towards the commission of the offence;
- The act must fall short of the completed offence
- Accomplishment or Completion– The last stage in the commission of an offence is its accomplishment or completion. If the accused succeeds in his attempt to commit the crime, he will be guilty of the complete offence and if his attempt is unsuccessful, he will be guilty of an attempt only. For example, A fires at B with the intention to kill him, if B dies, A will be guilty for committing the offence of murder and if B is only injured, it will be a case of attempt to murder.
This was all about the complete stages of crime
Also Read: Essential Elements of Crime
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