Stouthrief
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 most recently in Inverness in 2024 <ref> {{https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/6484243/inverness-men-jailed-after-appalling-act-of-violence/?utm_content=185929422&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&hss_channel=fbp-435577453921822}}