There are lot of people this morning saying that one of Jamie Bulger's killers being

[Monty92]

Look at it this way. With murder and attempted murder we group the two crimes by intent (to kill) but sentence them according to effect (death or otherwise). With murder and manslaughter we group the effect (death) but sentence according to intent.

So we can all agree it is worse to intentionally kill someone (intent and effect) than to do it by accident (effect alone). We also seem to agree that it is worse to intentionally kill someone than to try and **** it up (intent but not effect). The grey area is whether attempted murder (intent) is worse than manslaughter (unintended effect).

So what Do we deem more serious, the intent or the effect?

A man who successfully punches someone with the intent to kill them is morally equal to a man who unsuccessfully punches someone with the intent to kill him.

A man who successfully punches someone with the intent to kill them is morally worse than a man who punches someone without intent to kill them, but kills them anyway.

How the law treats each case should be informed by, but not not necessarily follow, these rules of thumb, for the reasons Berni articulates elsewhere in this thread.