Falkirk man jailed on rare hamesucken charge – this is what it means
An unemployed scaffolder from Falkirk has been jailed on a rare charge of hamesucken
Callum McLaren, 33, was imprisoned for 15 months under the historic Scots law when he appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court.
Hamesucken is the offence of pursuing someone into their home to assault them, and those found guilt of it were once hanged.
McLaren hit a woman over the head with a wooden truncheon and stole her handbag.
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At Falkirk Sheriff Court, he admitted hamesucken and robbing her of her bag containing two purses, bank cards, £185 in cash, and a wooden box.
Prosecutor Cheryl Clark said McLaren had been let into the flat in Earn Court, Alloa, by her partner who then went out to the shops.
McLaren sat on the sofa, before telling her he had enough cannabis for a joint, and asked her to make it for him.
Prosecutor Cheryl Clark said: "As Douglas leaned forward to reach for a tin containing rolling skins, the accused struck her over the head with a foot-long truncheon, leaned over, and tried to grab her satchel bag."
After a struggle he wrested it from her before running from the flat, followed into the street by the woman who had blood pouring from her head.
He himself was later assaulted, and arrested after police arrived to deal with both incidents.
The woman was taken to hospital where doctors glued her head wound.
Defence agent Murray Aitken said McLaren, of Langlees, Falkirk, had moved to Alloa shortly before the incident, which occurred on August 21, 2021.
The court heard he had numerous previous convictions.
Imposing the jail term, Sheriff Craig Harris said: "This was a serious offence involving the use of a weapon to strike someone's head within the home of the person concerned."
Hamesucken was a capital crime until 1887.