Stouthrief (alternatively stouthreif) 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.
It is to be distinguished from the crime of Hamesucken which is breaking into the home of an individual and assaulting him where that is the initial purpose.
Both are crimes at
Common Law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...
, 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,
2015, 2021, and 2022.
References
* http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/14713
Scottish criminal law
Scots law legal terminology
Crimes
Theft
{{criminal-law-stub