Rex v. Scofield (1784) | |
---|---|
Court | Not specified |
Decided | 1784 |
Defendant | Scofield |
Plaintiff | Not specified |
Citation | Cald. 397 |
Case history | |
Subsequent actions | The case involved Scofield placing a lit candle into flammable material in a house with the intent to burn it down, but the larger fire never happened. Lord Mansfield held that the incomplete but intended act of arson constituted a crime, emphasizing that "The intent may make an act, innocent in itself, criminal..." |
Court membership | |
Judge sitting | Lord Mansfield |
Case opinions | |
The case introduced the concept of attempt in common law, focusing on the intent of the actor rather than the completion of the criminal act. |
Rex v. Scofield, Cald. 397 (1784), is a British criminal law case that made attempt part of the common law, emphasizing the intent of an actor over the incomplete criminal act.[1] Scofield lit a candle and placed it into flammable material in a house with the intent to burn it down, but the larger fire never happened.[1]: 669 Finding crime in the incomplete but intended act of arson, Lord Mansfield held that "completion of an act, criminal in itself, [was not] necessary to constitute criminality", and "The intent may make an act, innocent in itself, criminal..."[1]: 669
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