Stouthrief or stouthreif[1] (Scots: stouth 'theft' + rief 'reiving, robbery') is the Scottish crime of use or threat of violence against a householder who defends themselves during a housebreaking; it is additional to any associated robbery.[2]
It is to be distinguished from the crime of hamesucken (Old English: hám-sócn, lit.'home-seeking') which is breaking into the home of an individual and assaulting him where that is the initial purpose.[3] Both are crimes at common law, typically to be found in the description of the crime libelled in court relative to a single incident rather than in the usually less-detailed newspaper reports of such a trial.
Although rarely used, prosecutions for hamesucken were brought in 2011,[3] 2015,[4] 2021,[5] 2022[6] and more recently in Inverness in 2024.[7]
^According to William Roughead, "Trial of Dr. Pritchard – Notable Scottish Trials", the spelling should be stouthreif. See p.343, reference to the execution in front of New Prison of Dd.Little on 27 January 1831 for stouthreif.
