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R v Fitzmaurice [1983] 1 All ER 189

By Oxbridge Law TeamUpdated 04/01/2024 07:02

Judgement for the case R v Fitzmaurice

Table Of Contents

  • A wanted to get the reward for thwarting a robbery. He asked Defendant to recruit some people to rob Victim (who was complicit with A) when Victim was walking down the street. A and the people he recruited all believed the robbery was genuine.

  • Before the robbery could occur, A called the police and the recruited people and Defendant were arrested.

  • The recruited people were acquitted on the basis that there could be no crime (since Victim was complicit - BEFORE Shivpuri)

  • However Defendant was convicted of unlawfully inciting others to commit a robbery.

  • He appealed on the grounds that there could be no actual crime. However CA dismissed his claim, saying that incitement is an offence regardless of the incited parties’ reactions.

  • Indeed if Defendant were to incite X and X did nothing, then Defendant would still be guilty of incitement. Similarly if Defendant incited X to commit a crime and it turned out that X could not commit the crime, as here, Defendant was still guilty of inciting X to commit an offence.

  • The CA say that as long as the general crime is possible (i.e. going to rob a woman, as here), then it is irrelevant that in this particular case the crime couldn’t be committed.

  • It is still logical for the inciter to be convicted where the specific target or crime is impossible, provided the overall conduct he advocates is criminal. 

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