Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Man could spend life behind bars for the heinous crime of being naked

Naked rambler could spend rest of life behind barsNaked rambler Stephen Gough is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars in maximum security Perth Prison - unless he puts on a pair of trousers.

Gough - who has become notorious for trying to walk around Britain naked - was arrested within seconds of being freed from the jail on December 17.

He was found guilty at Perth Sheriff Court on Monday of breaching the peace by walking naked in the street and refusing a request by police to put some clothes on in public.

The eccentric ex-lorry driver was warned that he would continue to be jailed every time he stepped out of the prison without any clothes on. On the past two occasions when he has been freed from jail, officers from Tayside Police were waiting at the jail gates to re-arrest him.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Gough he would not have to be "crystal ball gazing" to realise that the same process would occur "again and again and again."

Gough - who has spent the bulk of the past seven years in jail for identical crimes - turned down an offer to walk free yesterday on condition that he get dressed.

... Gough said: "Essentially this is about individual freedom and people's tolerance to other people being different. I understand a lot of people will disagree and have strong feelings about it.

"Walking the amount of miles I have, through towns and cities, it is on the whole a very small moral minority who act in an irrational way. I believe I am behaving in a reasonable way."

Gough was allowed to conduct his own defence in open court while completely naked and the sheriff said he would consider whether that was a contempt of court when he is sentencing. He warned Gough that he could be jailed for upwards of 18 months.

Gough, of Chamberlayne Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, was found guilty of breaching the peace near Perth Prison on December 17 and was remanded in custody. The sheriff also ordered psychological and psychiatric reports.

via Naked rambler could spend rest of life behind bars | Scotland | STV News.

The entire town should go naked to his next hearing.

2 comments:

Stu said...

Gough has been given opportunity after opportunity to put some pants on and go home. Every time he gets released, he gets a fresh opportunity. But no, he wants the right to expose his genitalia to anyone and everyone, children included, wherever he pleases. If he spends the rest of his days in prison, then that's his decision - at least we are protected from him and his long incarceration stands as a warning to other revolting exhibitionists. Long may he rot in HMP Perth!

Xeno said...

A friend of mine named Erick went to a college Halloween party as "original sin" once, buck naked. We all thought it was funny as hell. I was dressed as a psychotherapist. I gave him my diagnosis in my best Groucho Marx voice: "Son, I can clearly see you're nuts."

Ever since that day, I vomit uncontrollably four or five times a day, my skin has turned bright green in places, and I'm unable to talk without a Russian accent. If only, Stu, you were around to tell me that I need protection from seeing genitalia, I might not have all these problems today.

But seriously, I do understand your point. I'm wondering if the guy in this story was given the chance to live in a nudist colony, would he do that instead of prison? That would save the tax payers a lot of money. If not, then he is doing this for the wrong reason, he is insisting on having his rights but not respecting other people's rights. And in that case, I guess the only option is prison. Such an odd case.