Brothers Declan and Oscar are the only members and directors of Topiary Home Security Equipment Pty Ltd (Topiary). Topiary has a warehouse in Sydney, which contains the company's product inventory, which includes expensive CCTV equipment. Declan also works as the warehouse manager, while Oscar works in sales. One evening, as Declan was about to close the warehouse, he was confronted by two masked men who wanted to rob the warehouse. Declan resisted, a struggle ensued, and he ended up shooting and badly injuring one of the masked robbers. The other robber escaped.

The Office of the Public Prosecutor now wants to charge Declan with attempted murder. Can Topiary also be charged with this offence? And if your answer is yes, on what basis can the company be charged?