Why Doesn't Attempted Murder Carry The Same Sentence As Murder?

I mean the maximum sentence for both is life, so it does carry the same sentence. If you're asking why somebody who commits an attempted murder is likely to get less time than somebody who succeeds, well the answer is because in one scenario the person is dead and in the other he isn't. This is also why causing death by dangerous driving carries a higher penalty than dangerous driving - in both cases the defendant does the same act which may have no consequences at all if you're lucky but if you're not then it ends up with somebody dead. For example, a recent case is R v Dagnall where an elderly man pulled out of a side road without seeing the motorcyclist coming towards him. If they'd been no motorcyclist then he wouldn't have gone to prison, but there was & the motorcyclist died so he got a prison sentence. In the same way the sentence for attempted murder comes down - somewhat - to luck or lack of it, whichever way you look at it. But, let's take your example of a cold-blooded murder attempt. The sentencing guidelines sets out a whole much of things that place somebody in the top category for culpability. The theme running through them is that there is a high degree of planning involved. So let's say your offender is in that category, then the sentence he ultimately gets is determined by the harm he causes. If he gets really close to killing the victim then he's looking at up to 40 years. If he fails to cause any harm at all then he's look at up to 30 years. For most people these sentences are going to take most, if not all, of their lives. Also, at the more serious end the judge is seriously going to think about a life sentence. These aren't covered by the att murder guideline, but there is a separate one on the imposition of life sentences. These sentences are pretty much what you'd expect for a murder sentence albeit that for murder the court must impose a life sentence with a minimum term rather than a determinate sentence. Here's the guideline: [https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/attempted-murder-2/](https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/crown-court/item/attempted-murder-2/)