'Naked rambler' Stephen Gough to hear latest sentence today
The man known as The Naked Rambler will today discover how long he is to spend behind bars after being found guilty of breaching the peace yet again.
Perth Sheriff Court.
- By Mark Mackay
- Published in the Courier : 25.11.10
- Published online : 25.11.10 @ 12.55pm
Stephen Gough (50) appeared unclothed in the dock before an unimpressed Sheriff Robert McCreadie at Perth Sheriff Court to unsuccessfully argue that he had no case to answer.
The father of three from Eastleigh in Hampshire had been arrested on October 29, moments after being released from a 21-month sentence, served at Perth Prison.
Leaving seven bags of possessions, including clothing, sitting within the prison gates, Gough strode naked on to the town's Edinburgh Road in full view of the public.
He was approached by police officers and was given numerous opportunities to cover up but declined each one.
Having spent much of October remanded in custody he appeared for trial on Wednesday to yet again argue that is a basic human right to be publicly naked.
It is a claim that has been often heard by Perth's three sitting sheriffs in connection with Gough, who has now accumulated 21 convictions since 2003, all of which are virtually analogous.
Gough's refusal to put on clothing has repeatedly defeated attempts to have him reunited with his family in England. His rambling days, when he passed through courts the length and breadth of the UK, are now long behind him and he has now served two consecutive and lengthy sentences at Perth Prison for crimes virtually identical to that he was found guilty of on Wednesday.
Minutes at liberty
In fact, during the past three to four years, he has spent mere minutes at liberty, having now been arrested three times within yards of the entrance to Perth Prison.
Each time he has been charged with and found guilty of breaching the peace.
He has also regularly appeared at court without clothing, sitting naked before sheriffs and other court staff to insist that he is challenging prejudices. On numerous occasions he has also been found in contempt of court as a result.
Gough attempted to argue that, as "the human body is not alarming," he could not be found guilty of breaching the peace.
However, after considering evidence from two police constables, Sheriff McCreadie found him guilty of a charge that on October 29 at Edinburgh Road in Perth he conducted himself in a disorderly manner, stood naked at the gates of Perth Prison, refused to wear any clothing or otherwise cover his private parts and committed a breach of the peace.
The sheriff told Gough he was also likely to be found guilty of contempt of court yet again, having given him a number of opportunities to put on clothing before beginning this latest trial.
"Your naked state would have caused alarm to any reasonable person," he told Gough, who was representing himself.
The sheriff deferred sentence on both the breach of the peace and contempt of court to enable the accused to consider his position. Gough has been remanded in custody until today.
