Naked Rambler jailed for 30 months in England

Naked Rambler Stephen Gough, 55, has been jailed in England for 30 months. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Stephen Gough, 55, was arrested in 2005 in Scotland trying to complete the 874 mile hike wearing only boots and a pair of socks.

The father-of-two has spent more than six years in prison and has served most of his sentences in Saughton Prison and Perth Prison.

Upon crossing the border he was arrested and was jailed a number of times in Scotland between 2006 and 2012.

He chooses not to wear clothes as a protest against the idea that nudity is offensive.

But his personal crusade has resulted in the father-of-two being convicted of 30 offences in the past 11 years.

Now the serial offender has again been jailed for another 30 months for breaching a court order preventing him from appearing unclothed in public.

He appeared naked in the dock yesterday at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, as jurors returned a unanimous guilty verdict within minutes.

Gough was found guilty on a charge of breaching an indefinite antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) after just being released from prison.

The order was imposed by Southampton Magistrates’ Court last year which banned Gough from appearing naked in public. Simon Jones, prosecuting, told how when Gough was released from Winchester Prison on April 15 this year he walked out naked except for socks and boots.

He said: “A clearer breach there couldn’t be.”

PC Rich Moody, sent to meet him outside the prison, told the court how the former Royal Marine declined to put on the tracksuit top and bottoms he offered him.

Interviewed later that day, Gough told police: “It don’t make sense to me.

“I want to live my life in a reasonable way. I am not a robot and have to follow what makes sense to me.”

Former lorry driver Gough, from Eastleigh, Hants, did not have any legal representation and made brief naked appearances in the dock.

Judge Jane Miller QC repeatedly ordered for him to be brought up from the cells to ask if he was prepared to put on clothes so that he could be seen by the jury and take part in the trial.

Each time Gough refused and was taken back down the stairs again.

Passing sentence, Judge Miller suggested that discussions be held to try to find a closed naked community he would be prepared to live in on his next release.

She said: “If there is a way out of the endless cycle of prison I would like to find it.”

Gough, who had denied the charge, sighed in response to his latest sentence and was then returned to jail, where he has already spent a total of about eight years.

Breaching an Asbo can result in a maximum jail term of five years.

Gough - a former Royal Marine - chooses not to wear clothes as a protest against the idea that nudity is offensive. He also believes it is his human right.

He gained notoriety when he walked naked from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2003 and again in 2005.

He has received 28 convictions for being nude in public.