Naked Rambler

The naked rambler has been jailed for public nudity. He was not allowed to appear at Portsmouth Crown Court for his trial after refusing to wear clothes and so didn't offer a defence. He was given an 11 month sentence.

He was charged with flouting an anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) banning him from being naked in public. Jurors returned a guilty verdict in less than 10 minutes.

Gough has previously been convicted of nine public order counts of going naked in public in Hampshire.

Judge Sarah Munro said Gough, who has been remanded in custody while awaiting trial, will be eligible for release from prison on 14 August.

Gough has now been sentenced to more than six years in prison for being naked in public..

Stephen Gough, known as the naked rambler, has been fined after being found guilty of nine public order 'offences' for walking nude in public places.

Gough pleaded not guilty to the charges of behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

But district Judge Anthony Calloway said members of the public had been distressed at seeing Gough nude.

Payment of the £ 1,800 fine was waived in lieu of time served in prison.

Charles Nightingale, persecuting, said in several of the offences Gough was seen by parents with young children who were 'shocked' and 'alarmed' at seeing him naked.

Tom Stevens, defending, said his client believed his nudity was allowed under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act which protects freedom of expression.

Gough remains in prison as he awaits trial for a further charge of an alleged breach of an anti-social behaviour order banning him from being naked in public. He is due to appear at Southampton Crown Court on 19 June.

Number 10 has asked civil servants to produce a list of ideas that could be included in legislation to reduce state intrusion into everyday life.

Sources said reforms to nudity laws, which would give men and women the right to wander naked on Britain's streets and beaches without fear of arrest, were being considered.

A source added: There is some sensible stuff in the Bill, such as making it easier to get permission for street parties and other public events.

Men bathing naked on a beach not designated for naturism, or appearing nude in other public areas, can face prosecution under the 1824 Vagrancy Act, which makes it illegal to expose the male person . Women can be charged under the Public Order Act.

In a joint appearance at Downing Street earlier this week, David Cameron and Nick Clegg revealed that a new Freedoms Bill would be among key priorities for the next two and a half years of coalition government. They said:

As we take steps to reshape the British state for the 21st century, we will take further steps to limit its scope and extend our freedoms.

The Daily Mail seem to be predictably negative to the idea of a Freedoms Bill with a long rant against the already dismissed idea of reducing the age of consent to 14 for similarly aged children.

Naked rambler Stephen Gough was ordered to spend Christmas in prison after his application for bail wasrefused.

He was arrested in Carterton, Oxfordshire on suspicion of the charge of 'outraging public decency' on 4 December.

He was represented in his absence at Oxford Crown Court after refusing to wear any clothes to the hearing.

Gough had requested to spend Christmas at home in Eastleigh, Hampshire. His application for bail will be heard again on 25 January.

Update: Disgracefully still in jail

4th February 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

The naked rambler has appeared in court with no clothes on to hear if charges against him would be dropped.

Stephen Gough stood naked in the dock at Oxford Crown Court as Judge Patrick Eccles rejected an application for his case to be dismissed.

He is to appear in court in February.

Gough saw his application for bail refused before Christmas when he told the court of his wish to stand trial naked.

Hebden Bridge bared all to show its support for a naked rambler arrested in the town last week.Over 20 people stripped off in support of Stephen Gough - known as the Naked Rambler.

Gough was arrested in Bridge Gate last Wednesday and then in Halifax last Thursday under the much abused catch all law of the Public Order Act.

Gough appeared naked in the dock at the local Magistrates Court to deny the charge and the case has been adjourned until February 5, 2013.

A group calling themselves The Hebden Bridge Eccentrics believed the naked rambler had done nothing wrong and showed their support on Sunday by taking their clothes off on the old Packhorse Bridge, Hebden Bridge.

H Gregg, who organised the protest, said:

I knew lots of locals shared my disbelief that the police had seen fit to arrest Stephen. Hebden Bridge is a town known for being tolerant -- as a community we pride ourselves on our live-and-let-live attitude.

The irony that Stephen has walked over 260 miles without any trouble only to be arrested in what is probably the most-tolerant town in Yorkshire was not lost on many of us.

The Naked Rambler was back doing what he loves best, hiking across the countryside with just a hat and walking boots on.

Stephen Gough was released after serving six years for public nudity. Well-wishers grinned and photographed the 53-year-old rambler.

Lothian and Borders Police have said they are willing to exercise discretion in his case if circumstances permit .

Update: Free of Scottish Injustice

11th October 2012. See  article from  scotsman.com

THE Naked Rambler has left Scotland after being jailed there for 6 years for public nudity

Wearing nothing but his trademark backpack and a pair of socks, a hat and walking boots, Stephen Gough headed into the Northumberland National Park.

Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has been jailed for a further five months after refusing to get dressed and go home to England. He has been jailed ever since 25th August 2006. So his sentence has now totalled 6 years and 4 months.

Gough appeared in court suitably naked for sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Fife.

He was found guilty last month of committing a supposed breach of the peace by strolling naked near a swing park where children were playing in Dunfermline, also Fife, and refusing to put on clothes.

Gough who insists he is not a naturist and claims his naked rambles are a protest , was initially removed from the dock after only five minutes when he refused to sit down so his privates were hidden by the wooden dock. After he was brought back in, and agreed to sit, the court heard he had refused to meet social workers and so no assessment was available.

Persecutor Brian Robertson said the Crown was prepared to help him go back to England if he co-operated.

Sheriff James Williamson told Gough, that he was concerned that he had not met or co-operated with social workers drawing up the background report ordered. The sheriff said: Will you meet with them and assist them?

When Gough responded, No, not really , Sheriff Williamson said he had been left with no choice but to jail him for five months.

[So why don't the authorities transfer him to a prison near his home in Hampshire whilst he is in custody?]

The Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has been arrested three days after he was released from prison.

Gough, a former Royal Marine who hikes across the country naked, was arrested in Townhill, Dunfermline, by policemen from Fife Constabulary.

He was released from Perth Prison on Tuesday, having spent the past six years in the Scottish jail.

A spokesman for Fife Constabulary said he was arrested following complaints from members of the public and has been charged with a supposed breach of the peace.

The Naked Rambler's supporters on Facebook have made an official complaint to the Fife Constabulary

Re Arrest of Mr Stephen Gough on the afternoon of 20th July 2012 whilst in the course of peacefully eating his lunch unattired

I refer to the ruling on Breach of the Peace, in 2001 in the High Court of Justiciary, where Lord Coulsfield held that breach of the peace required conduct severe enough to cause alarm to ordinary people and threaten serious disturbance to the community and that mere annoyance or irritation were insufficient .

Misapplication of the legislation governed by this ruling would in itself constitute Breach of the Peace by any individual(s) conducting such misapplication. Fife Constabulary is hereby on notice to provide indisputable evidence, including a physical witness, of serious disturbance to the community .

In this regard, this message is being copied to Professional Standards and constitutes a formal complaint.

Update: Jailed for at least a month

24th July 2012. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Stephen Gough, the man known as the naked rambler, has denied charges concerning nudity 'close' to a play park near Dunfermline.

Prosecutors said he refused to put on clothing or move away and supposedly committed a breach of the peace on 20 July.

Gough chose to represent himself and was naked during the court appearance.

He was jailed until 23 August. Gough did not ask for bail.

Stephen Gough, nicknamed the Naked Rambler, has vowed to continue walking around Britain with no clothes on after tasting his first day of freedom after being jailed by Scotland for 6 years.

Former marine Stephen Gough has spent the vast majority of the past decade behind bars because of Scottish intolerance and injustice.

He initially earned the title Naked Rambler by walking unclothed from Land's End to John O'Groats after quitting his job as a lorry driver.

He was spoken to by police immediately after his release, but was then allowed to go on his way in an apparent shift in Tayside Police force policy. On the last few occasions he has been immediately arrested by officers waiting for him at the gates, but yesterday he was given the go-ahead to walk off despite being naked.

Following his release he said: My opinion is that the police have thought 'the guy's not going to give up so let's have a think about it.

He revealed that he had spent the vast majority of his time in solitary confinement in maximum security Perth Prison - although he said life inside flew by.

Offsite: The naked truth

19th July 2012. See article from fleetstreetfox.com , thanks to David

A good article about Stephen Gough and Scottish injustice.

A commenter also makes the point that 6 years spent in jail is the equivalent of a 12 years sentence with 50% remission.

...Read the full article

Scotland's easy offence at the  Naked Rambler has cost tax payers £500,000

Stephen Gough has been behind bars almost continually for six years for refusing to wear clothes either in public, in court or in prison. And it looks as though the bill for keeping him will continue to rise because every time he is freed, he is arrested again for going starkers.

In all, he has been convicted of 17 breaches of the peace for walking naked since he first hit the headlines in 2003 as he walked from Land's End to John O'Groats naked.

Gough is currently serving his longest sentence of 657 days, imposed at Perth Sheriff Court last month.

Sheriff Richard McFarlane has claimed this outrageous injustice is not the fault of the authorities, but that it was all down to Gough. He said: Can you help me as to when this ridiculous cycle of offending will stop? A lot of deserving causes could benefit from the unnecessary cost you are putting the country to. Your conduct is verging on selfish because of the costs.

It costs around £ 35,000 a year to keep the average prisoner but Gough spends most of his time behind bars in segregation, which is more expensive. The total bill is also made up of legal aid, court bills and wasted police time.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: It's unbelievable that this ongoing case has been allowed to waste so much taxpayers' money. A sensible resolution has to be found, sending the naked rambler back to prison benefits no one.

Last week Stephen Gough was found guilty of breaching the peace when he walked naked from Perth prison in December after finishing a 12 month sentence for the same offence.

Mr Gough was warned he will continue to be jailed every time he steps out of prison without any clothes on.

Naked rambler Stephen Gough has been warned he could spend the rest of his life in jail unless he puts on some clothes. Gough, who has become notorious for trying to walk around the UK naked, was arrested within seconds of being freed from Perth Prison on 17 December.

He was found guilty yesterday of breaching the peace by walking naked in the street and refusing a request by police to put on some clothes. On the past two occasions when Gough has been released from jail, officers from Tayside Police were waiting at the prison gates to re-arrest him.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Gough he would not have to be crystal ball gazing to realise that the same process would occur again and again and again .

Gough – who has spent the bulk of the past seven years in jail for identical crimes – yesterday turned down an offer to walk free on condition that he get dressed.

Foulis told him he would consider granting him bail to go back to his warmer home county of Hampshire if he agreed to put some clothes on, but Gough said he would not. A number of your recent convictions have arisen in similar circumstances, the sheriff said. You have more or less been apprehended when you have been released from prison. I suppose it doesn't need an expert in crystal ball gazing to anticipate that if I impose a custodial sentence then in so many months a similar scenario will arise. When the day comes for you to be released from a prison establishment, you will be apprehended and the same process gone through again.

Gough said he accepted it was potentially the case that he could remain in jail forever – apart from the few seconds of freedom he enjoys every six months or so.

During the trial, he compared himself to the African-American civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks, and said he believed his behaviour was reasonable . Gough said: Essentially, this is about individual freedom and people's tolerance to other people being different. I understand a lot of people will disagree and have strong feelings about it. Walking the amount of miles I have, through towns and cities, it is on the whole a very small moral minority who act in an irrational way. I believe I am behaving in a reasonable way.

Gough was allowed to conduct his own defence in open court while completely naked and the sheriff said he would consider whether that was a contempt of court when he is sentencing. He warned Gough that he could be jailed for upwards of 18 months.

Here is a picture of the Naked Rambler, Steve Gough, which I took at the Land's End visitor centre.

He is properly credited as someone who has completed the 874 mile walk from John o' Groats to Land's End. I visited Land's End today and saw this recognition.

The first picture is the relevant text seen on their display and the second is the picture of him on their display looking away, with his bottom censored, nevertheless I was pleased to see his efforts had been recognised by the folk at the Land's End visitor centre.

Which is a bit more than can be said of some nasty pieces of work in Scotland who have locked him up in jail for ages.

A man known as the Naked Rambler has been cleared of committing a breach of the peace after leaving Barlinnie Prison on 14 October with no clothes on.

Stephen Gough was acquitted at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday, but was rearrested in the foyer.

A sheriff conducted a hearing in the holding cells at court when the Naked Rambler refused to put his clothes on – again.

Stephen Gough – who has now spent 20 months in jail – was found guilty of another breach of the peace and now faces a further four months behind bars.

Earlier, the court heard Gough was taken into custody in January after walking free from court naked after a sheriff gave him the chance to end his "vicious circle".

The ex-marine took just six steps of freedom before police took him into the back of a van and re-arrested him.

Yesterday's sentencing was his 13th straight breach of the peace – all for appearing nude in public.