Naked Rambler arrested at court

[Bushnud2]

2 March 2006

Naked rambler arrested at court

Naked rambler Stephen Gough was arrested after attempting to walk nude into a court building.

He was due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to face sentencing for being naked in court on an earlier occasion.

But Gough, 46, failed to get as far as the dock after being stopped by security officials.

The clothes-shy trekker, from Eastleigh, Hants, had been due to attend two deferred hearings after sheriffs earlier ruled he was in contempt of court by failing to get dressed for court appearances last year.

The latest development comes just days after the former marine, accompanied by his Bournemouth-based partner, Melanie Roberts, put his clothes on to celebrate finishing his second marathon nude walk the length of Britain.

A Lothian and Borders police spokeswoman confirmed Gough had been arrested.

She said: "A 46-year-old man was arrested outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court."

Gough is expected to appear at the court on Thursday.

Three Edinburgh sheriffs had found Gough in contempt on three separate occasions, for refusing to cover up for court.

But at brief hearings conducted in Gough's absence, before Sheriff Katherine Mackie and then Sheriff Andrew Lothian, any decisions on sentencing were put off to June, to give the rambler's lawyers time to appeal to the High Court.

news.scotsman.com

[Bushnud2]

2 March 2006

Naked rambler arrested at court

Naked rambler Stephen Gough was arrested after attempting to walk nude into a court building.

He was due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to face sentencing for being naked in court on an earlier occasion.

But Gough, 46, failed to get as far as the dock after being stopped by security officials.

The clothes-shy trekker, from Eastleigh, Hants, had been due to attend two deferred hearings after sheriffs earlier ruled he was in contempt of court by failing to get dressed for court appearances last year.

The latest development comes just days after the former marine, accompanied by his Bournemouth-based partner, Melanie Roberts, put his clothes on to celebrate finishing his second marathon nude walk the length of Britain.

A Lothian and Borders police spokeswoman confirmed Gough had been arrested.

She said: "A 46-year-old man was arrested outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court."

Gough is expected to appear at the court on Thursday.

Three Edinburgh sheriffs had found Gough in contempt on three separate occasions, for refusing to cover up for court.

But at brief hearings conducted in Gough's absence, before Sheriff Katherine Mackie and then Sheriff Andrew Lothian, any decisions on sentencing were put off to June, to give the rambler's lawyers time to appeal to the High Court.

news.scotsman.com

[NakedGary]

Stephen Gough should of left well enough alone after completing his nude trek a few days ago and gone to court dressed. Now he is facing more sever sentencing for prior contempts, and this one today will only make the situation worse on todays contempt of court for future sentencing.

[nakednudists]

Sounds like the Naked rambler needs to settle down.

[Naturist Mark]

Steve Gough is willing to suffer for principle. He is trying to get the court to confront the idiocy of considering the body to be indecent. I say good luck to him as long as his behavior remains above board. He should not behave disrespectfully, but he should be able to demonstrate that state of dress does not breach the peace.

I don't have much sympathy for the argument that Steve Gough pushing the envelope is bad for nudists. Non sexual nudity is not illegal in Great Britain, Mr. Gough is "pushing" the envelope by exercising his right - and highlighting the hypocrisy of authorities who cannot charge him for what is not a crime, so they make vague 'breach of peace' charges to prohibit his legal peaceful behavior.

We heard similar arguments here in the States when a group of women were arrested for being legally topfree in Moravia, New York. Even though the law is very clear that topfreedom is legal in the State of New York, there were nudists who argued that they were harming nudism by exercising their right.

A right you don't dare to exercise is not a right. Steve Gough is a freedom fighter - good on him.

-Mark

[Nude in the North]

I agree with what Mark said.

What's the purpose of arresting people that have not broken a law.

The people filing the complaints are the one's "Breaching the Peace".

Steve

[Naturist Mark]

Jason's post (what source?) shows how "breach of Peace" can be used to effectively prohibit any legal behavior an authority doesn't like. In the US authorities use "disorderly or unruly behavior" or "disturbing the peace" as roughly equivalent charges.

Mere nudity in a non-sexual context is only a "breach" or "unruly" because of prejudice in people other than the subject being charged. If we are willing to concede that peaceful harmless behavior cannot be tolerated, then bad haircuts, physical disfigurement, silly hats, and underclass accents or dialect may all be effectively criminalized without the passage of any law.

-Mark

[Pete Knight]

The charge of "Breach of the Peace" wasn't for being naked as is often assumed, that charge was for failing to get dressed when asked to by an officer of the law. So far all charges for BotP have been dropped, but there still remains the contempt of court charges to deal with.
I agree with NakedGary with regard to the the current proceedings, Steve has proved his point and he should now dress for the court appearances, but its his choice.

Like Bushnud, I am an ardent supporter of Steve, and I walked with Steve and Mel a number of times during the latest walk, fortunately avoiding police attention. Steve is a really nice guy, and I was disgusted at the portrayal of him by the BBC, which did him no service whatsoever.

Pete Knight

[NakedGary]

There is four or five open links on Steve Gough and the Naked Rambler's naked walk.

For Pictures and Information go to the links below:



http://clothesfreeforums.com/eve/for...2/m/9170089773

http://clothesfreeforums.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/140...590052873#5590052873

http://www.nakedwalk.org/index.php?o...id=30&Itemid=5

Several Links by "David77" and Others on this page/Link:

http://clothesfreeforums.com/eve/for.../m/9170089773/

.