Legal Definitions - mainour

Mainour is a historical legal term that refers to a stolen item found in the immediate possession of the person who stole it. In historical common law, discovering a thief with the stolen goods (the "mainour") was considered such compelling evidence that it often allowed for immediate legal action against the individual, sometimes even without the need for a formal accusation or indictment.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a scenario in a medieval market where a merchant shouts that a loaf of bread has been stolen from their stall. A guard immediately spots an individual running away, still clutching the very loaf of bread in their hand. In this case, the loaf of bread is the mainour because it is the stolen article found directly in the possession of the suspected thief at the moment of discovery.

• Consider a farmer who discovers his prize chicken missing from its coop. He quickly raises an alarm, and a neighbor reports seeing someone fleeing the farm with a chicken tucked under their arm. When the local constable apprehends the individual a short distance away, they are still holding the farmer's chicken. The chicken here represents the mainour, as it is the stolen property found directly with the person suspected of taking it.

• Picture a busy port where a sailor's valuable compass is snatched from his bag. He immediately turns around and sees another person attempting to conceal the compass in their own jacket, still visibly fumbling with it. The compass, being the stolen item caught in the immediate possession of the alleged thief, would be considered the mainour.