Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. UK black) a thief.

1869		H.G. Murray ‘Tom Kittle’s Wake’ in D’Costa & Lalla Voices in Exile (1989) 104: Molly tief pass, maam, den go da him yard.
1873		C. Rampini Letters from Jamaica 178: Man help tief to-day, ’noder time him help watchman.
1902		J. Speirs Proverbs of British Guiana 12: Black man tief, he tief half-a-bit; bacra tief, he tief whole estate.
1910		Anderson & Cundall Jamaica Proverbs and Sayings 44: If you wan’ fe ketch a tief fine him track.
1929		M. Beckwith Jamaica Proverbs (1970) 94: T’ief neber like fe see him brudder ca’ long bag.
1939		J. Cary Mister Johnson (1952) 72: What you do if cook come in, cry out tief, tief.
1951		‘Sammy Dead Oh!’ in T. Murray Folk Songs of Jamaica 22: A no tief Sammy tief meck dem kill him.
1964		A. Bennett God the Stonebreaker 36: You is a damned t’ief.
1973		L. Bennett Auntie Roachy Sey (2003) 24: Me feel relief not a tief can tief / Me education!
1983		V. Bloom ‘Mek Ah Ketch Har’ in Touch Mi, Tell Mi 12: Look how she call me tief!
1987		L. Beake Strollers 38: We like strolling, man, not running errands for a bunch of [...] ‘diefs.’.
1997		N. Barlay Curvy Lovebox 123: Ringers burglars teefs filches dips and deedees. Scammers an’ skankers.
1999		J. Cameron Brown Bread in Wengen [ebook] ‘Fuck knows what he was after. Could be he was a tief man come to roust us’.
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 19: Barrel an’ a chubb fe dem sly teefs.