Sheep-stealing

Sheep-stealing, in England, is a felony, and by statute 24 and 28 Vict. chap. 96, sect. 11, is punishable with penal servitude to the extent of fourteen years. In Scotland it is an aggravated species of theft, and under certain old statutes was punishable by death. These statutes have been long ignored, and sheep-stealing, like other thefts, has been punished by imprisonment or penal servitude at the discretion of the judge. And by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1887, a capital sentence is no longer competent in the Scotch courts except on conviction of murder or murderous offences.