Naked rambler is jailed

Friday 14 September 2012

Naked rambler Stephen Gough – who has spent years in solitary confinement in a Scottish jail – was branded arrogant and self-indulgent by a sheriff as he was jailed for refusing to get dressed and go home to England.

dressing DOWN: Stephen Gough was criticised by sheriff.

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Nick Jedrzejewski

Gough, from Hampshire, was brought into a draughty courtroom naked but for a pair of handcuffs to be quizzed on why he had refused social work and psychiatric help.

The ex-marine was appearing for sentence at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court, Fife.

He was found guilty last month of committing a breach of the peace by strolling naked near a swing park where children were playing in Dunfermline and refusing to put on clothes. Sentence had been deferred for social workers to assess whether he needed psychiatric intervention.His arrest in July came just three days after he had been freed from prison in Perth, after spending six years in solitary confinement for previous offences involving nakedness.Gough, 53, 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 private parts would be hidden by the wooden sides.He said: "I just want to be treated like anybody else."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.Prosecutor Brian Robertson said the Crown was prepared to help him go back to England if he co-operated.Mr Robertson said: "The authorities are prepared to facilitate his return home if his behaviour doesn't cause alarm to the public."Sheriff James Williamson told Gough, who has also refused legal representation, that he was concerned 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.The sentence was backdated until July 20, the date of his arrest, meaning Gough will be freed again before Christmas. He is likely to serve his sentence in Edinburgh's Saughton Prison.Sheriff Williamson told Gough he realised his motives for refusing to get dressed were not "sinister", but criticised him for his refusal to co-operate with the preparation of a social background report.He said: "I had hoped it [the report] would assist me in dealing with you without sending you back to prison – but you leave me no choice."The police officers who arrested you told you that if you carried on your journey you would pass a playground occupied by children. You were given three options – one, change direction; two, cover your private parts; or three, enter a police van which would take you around the playpark and release you on your way at the other side."Despite that, you refused, which showed disregard for other members of the public, in particular children who have the right not to see naked men."It shows arrogance. That self-indulgence carries on today."Gough, of Chamberlain Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, now has 18 convictions for nakedness.He first achieved notoriety during a naked walk from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2003. Earlier this month, Gough's former partner Alison Ward, the mother to his two children – Kiana, 16 and Yarin, 14 – said she could not comprehend that he had given up family life, and knowing his children, simply to walk around naked."

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Naked rambler is jailed

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