The Campaign to Free Stephen Gough - The Naked Rambler

Stephen Gough, also known as 'The Naked Rambler' has been challenging the public nudity laws of Scotland since 2003 (see 'The Short History of the Naked Rambler', below).  During the course of his principled campaign, he has been jailed repeatedly for refusing to put on his clothes in jail, on the streets or in the courts and in fact has spent the bulk of his time in custody as a result.  He was most recently arrested seconds after he was freed from Perth Prison, again for refusing to cover up. Officers were waiting outside of the jail to arrest him if he continued his campaign of civil disobedience. 

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis has been on hand to repeatedly arrest Gough as he arises from incarceration and said "I suppose it doesn't need a expert in crystal ball gazing to anticipate that if I impose a custodial sentence then in so many months time 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. This is what happened over the last while and if I impose a custodial sentence that is a scenario which is likely to arise again and again and again."  Using the sheriff's reasoning, and assuming Gough maintains his current attitude, this would effectively result in a lifetime sentence for a harmless, victimless and we think, trivial infraction of the law.

It is time to put this nonsense to a stop and we call forth upon the entire international nudist community to join our campaign to urge all relevant officials in Scotland to release Stephen Gough from custody, to end his perpetual harrassment by law enforcement agencies and the courts and to seriously reconsider their draconian measures for addressing simple, non-sexual public nudity.

If you would like to support our campaign
by putting a link on your blog or website
please go to
http://www.nudiststop.com/gough_nude_banners

The Short History of the Naked Rambler

Stephen Gough (born c.1959-60), also known as Steve Gough and the Naked Rambler, a former Royal Marine[1] turned activist from Eastleigh, Hampshire, famous for walking the length of Great Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats in 2003–2004 with nothing on except boots, socks, rucksack and sometimes a hat. He has been arrested several times and put in prison in the course of his ramble.

His second Land's End to John o' Groats ramble was in 2005–2006 and accompanied by his girlfriend Melanie Roberts. He was arrested twice in England but almost immediately released. The legal system and many laws are different in Scotland and after crossing the border there were further arrests — the current total being over 20, the most recent of which for being in contempt of court as he appeared naked before a judge. He served a three month sentence in HMP Edinburgh. The walk was resumed on Sunday 12 February 2006, and completed shortly after on Monday 20 February the same year.

His website claims that ordering him to wear clothes for his court appearance "breached Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights - Right to a Fair Trial. He claimed that Articles 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 have been repeatedly breached by the authorities since he and Melanie arrived in Scotland.

He was involved with the public nudity advocacy group The Freedom to be Yourself.

Gough was arrested again on Thursday 19 May 2006 at Edinburgh airport after removing his clothes during a flight from Southampton to Edinburgh and refusing to get dressed.[2] On 25 August 2006 he was given a seven month jail sentence.[3]

On 9 April 2007 Gough was cleared of charges related to his refusal to dress upon being released into Saughton Prison car park in Edinburgh. The ruling judge, Isobel Poole, found that there was no evidence of "actual alarm or disturbance", adding "I can understand this conduct could be considered unpleasant to passers-by had there been any but there is a lack of evidence to that effect." Gough lost his appeal against contempt of court convictions for refusing to wear clothes during his trial.[4]

On 18 December 2008 he was convicted of a breach of the peace and jailed for 12 months.[5] In July 2009, Gough, standing in the dock naked, was jailed at Perth for a further 12 months for breach of the peace. Sheriff MacFarlane was told that the bill for dealing with Gough had cost the public an estimated several hundred thousand pounds. The court heard how Gough had finished a previous jail term at Perth Prison and was released to enjoy freedom for the first time in several months. However, his freedom lasted less than 30 seconds after he walked naked from the prison door to Edinburgh Road. Gough was also sentenced to four months for refusing to dress before the trial.[6]