Naked rambler may spend the rest of his life in prison

Stephen Gough, AKA the Naked Rambler has been told that he may spend the rest of his life behind bars unless he agrees to put some clothes on.

50 year old Gough, who claims to be an ex-Royal Marine, has been a longtime activist for the right to roam the country naked. In 2003 he completed his first naked hike of Great Britain, tramping all the way from Land’s End to John O’Groats completely stark bollock naked apart from sturdy boots and a rucksack. The hike took several months, and Gough was arrested numerous times as he hiked through Scotland. The law in Scotland concerning public nudity differs from the rest of Great Britain, Gough found little resistance to his naked walks across England and Wales, but on reaching Scotland he began facing arrests for breach of the peace. After spending a 140 nights in jail Gough was able to complete his hike in early 2004, and decided to complete the same journey again in 2005.

On Gough’s second trip from Land’s End to John O’Groats he was accompanied the entire trip by his naked girlfriend Melanie Roberts, and was also joined at different stages of the route by naked supporters. Again when he reached Scotland he was continually arrested for public nudity and breach of the peace. It took Gough months to complete his journey and he was told he had to return to court in Edinburgh to face charges of public nudity in May 2006. Gough boarded a flight from Southampton to Edinburgh to make the court appearance and stripped whilst on the flight, he was arrested as he disembarked from the plane and was later sentenced to seven months in prison.

Gough appeared in court naked and was also charged with contempt, he has since spent all his time in Scottish prisons refusing to wear a uniform and repeatedly appearing in court to face further charges naked.

Every time Gough is released from jail he walks out of prison wearing just his birthday suit and is immediately rearrested, yesterday he was told by Perth Sheriff Lindsay Foulis that he could potentially spend the rest of his life in a Scottish prison if he continues to refuse to put some clothes on.

Sheriff Foulis even offered Gough the opportunity to be set free if he agreed to put some clothes on immediately but Gough declined the offer. Gough was then found guilty of breach of the peace and taken back to jail. The sheriff has ordered psychological and psychiatric reports.

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