What is "stouthrief"

n. (context archaic English) A Scottish criminal offense; a form of rief (theft) committed by force.

Stouthrief (alternatively stouthreif) is the Scottish criminal offence of use or threat of violence against a householder who defends themselves during a housebreaking; it is additional to any associated robbery offence.

It is to be distinguished from the offence of Hamesucken which is breaking into the home of an individual and assaulting him where that is the initial purpose. Both are offences in Common Law, typically to be found in the description of the offences libelled in court relative to a single incident rather than in the usually less-detailed newspaper reports of such a trial.

Section 285 ("Certain crimes not to be tried in inferior courts") of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 prevents prosecution for stouthrief in a court of summary jurisdiction other than a Sheriff Court.

Although rarely used, prosecutions for Hamesucken were brought in 2011 and 2015.