Naked Rambler Jailed For Three Months

It's looking like a potentially unhappy Christmas for Stephen Gough, the Naked Rambler, as he's been sentenced to three months in prison for refusing to wear clothes in court.

Appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Gough refused to cover himself, despite warnings from Sheriff Gordon Liddle and was led away while the case was heard in his absence.

Passing sentence, the Sheriff commented: "I do not think I have come across a clearer case of contempt of court in my professional career."

Gough has once again been walking from Lands End to John O Groats, naked, to publicise his belief that we should be allowed to go naked in public if we choose to, though he's actually been jailed for refusing to wear clothes in court rather than for naked rambling per se.

He's been arrested on numerous occasions and jailed at least twice before, but the amount of public money and police time being wasted in pursuit of an essentially harmless eccentric, must be colossal now and out of all proportion to the offence being committed. Meanwhile people are merely being fined for crimes of violence.

The whole thing is a nonsense and whether you believe in the right to naked rambling or not, it's hard not to conclude that in this case, the law is a complete ass.

More about the Nake Rambler from the Scotsman's onlive archives: news.scotsman.com