Vive la difference?

The case of the teacher who was acquitted of attempted murder after hitting a pupil over the head with a dumbbell highlights a rather strange distinction the law makes between murder and attempted murder. To prove a charge of murder, you must show that the accused did what he/she did with the intention to kill or at the least to cause really serious bodily harm, whereas on a charge of attempted murder there must be an intention to kill - nothing less will do. Why there is this distinction is not clear but it may have something to do with the fact that murder is a common law offence (one of the few left on the books) whereas attempted murder is an offence created by statute.