Attempt to commit theft is established when conduct moves directly toward the offence and fails only due to outside intervention.

Conduct amounts to an attempt to commit theft where the accused moves directly towards the offence with the intention to steal and the failure occurs because of external intervention, not a voluntary abandonment. On the facts stated, entry into the enclosure for cattle theft and acts immediately directed to the offence satisfied the legal conception of attempt. The owner's intervention was the reason the offence was not completed, so the conviction for attempt to commit theft was upheld and the revision was dismissed.

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Issues: Whether the proved facts constituted an attempt to commit theft.

Analysis: The prisoner had entered the enclosure with the intention of stealing cattle and had taken acts moving directly towards the commission of the offence. The act failed only because the owner intervened, and the failure was due to circumstances independent of the prisoner's will. On that reasoning, the conduct satisfied the legal conception of an attempt.

Conclusion: The conviction for attempt to commit theft was upheld and the revision was dismissed.

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