These are some of the clauses in the Laws of King Ine with reference to the slaying of a thief:—
Gif þeof sie gefongen swelte he deaðe oþþe his lif be his were man aliese.
(12) If a thief be seized let him perish by death or let his life be redeemed according to his wer.
Cierlisc mon gif he oft betygen wære gif he æt siþestan sie gefongen slea mon hond [of] oþþe fot.
(18) A ceorlisc man, if he have often been accused, if he at last be seized, let his hand or foot be cut off.
Gif feorcund mon oþþe fremde butan wege geond wudu gonge & ne hrieme ne horn blawe, for þeof he bið to profianne oþþe to sleanne oþþe to aliesanne.
(20) If a far-coming man or a stranger journey through a wood out of the highway and neither shout nor blow his horn he is to be held for a thief either to be slain or redeemed.
The ge-geldas and kindred of the thief.
Then comes the question what happens if a man should seize a thief and slay him as a thief. The next clause goes on to state that in the case of the thief slain in the wood the slayer must declare that he slew the man for a thief, and then neither the lord nor the ge-gildas of the slain could demand a wergeld. But if he should conceal the slaying and it became known after a time, the way was open for the kindred of the supposed thief to exculpate him by oath and so claim his wergeld, from the slayer.