D wanted to kill V so he bought a shotgun, sawed of end, lay in wait for V, climbed into back of V’s car and said he was going to kill V. V managed to escape. D was convicted of attempted murder and appealed on the basis that it was neither proved that the safety catch was off nor that his finger was on the trigger and therefore that the judge should have decided that there was insufficient evidence to leave question to jury. CA dismissed this on the ground that “a reasonable jury, properly directed, could convict D of attempted murder” and therefore it was right that the judge left this question to the jury. When the merely preparatory acts have come to an end and D begins the crime proper, he is guilty of an attempted offence. They say that everything prior to getting into the car (buying the gun, shortening it, lying in wait etc = preparatory)
