Naked rambler faces life in prison

Naked rambler faces life in prison

www.telegraph.co.uk

The naked rambler, Stephen Gough, has been told he will spend the rest of his life behind bars if he continues refusing to wear clothes in public.

The former Royal Marine, who became notorious for his naked hike from Land's End to John O'Groats in 2003, has spent much of the past seven years in prison for repeatedly appearing nude in public.

He was yesterday found guilty of breaching the peace when he walked naked from Perth prison in December after finishing a 12 month sentence for the same

(visit the link for the full news article)

Kind of ironic that the UK wishes to sentence a man to prison for life just for not wearing his clothes when walking around, but on the other hand they are trying to pass new legislation to make body scanners mandatory, not to mention the fact that they have to change child pornography laws to do so.

So on one hand, you can't show your naked body, but on the other, you're required to show your naked body. Seems like Orwellian double-speak.

This world just makes no sense.

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 13-1-2010 by seattletruth]

this guy has some balls to be doing this. (pun maybe or maybe not intended) I guess he just wants to be able to walk around naked, the way you were made. Nothing wrong with that I think. I choose to wear clothes, and good on him for making a statement peacefully.

Gough is seen as your run-of-the-mill eccentric in the UK in very much the same way as infamous, serial streaker, Mark Roberts (This guy even has his own website!).



This sort of over-reactive news only goes to bolster the international image of the repressed Brits who baulk at the notion of nudity whilst behind closed doors, Madam Whiplash and the rough trade, rent boys of Kings Cross station are servicing the bastions of conservatism.




Streaking is very much apart of the make up in the same way as naughty, picture postcards and 'Carry on' films.

reply to post by seattletruth


Where does it say he will be sentenced to life in prison for appearing naked?

I think you have misconstrued the (Scottish..Different Laws there) Judge's statement. it says he has spent much of the past 7 years in and out of jail for "repeatedly appearing nude in public" and the Judge herself said (while he stood in front of her naked)

"When the day comes for you to be released, you will be apprehended and the same process gone through again".

Meaning, if he doesn't don some clothes, he will be arrested again if in Public and the same process gone through again. effectively, he will get repeat convictions of 12 months a time, come out of Prison naked, eventually be arrested again and face the same sentence.

Bear in mind, this guy conducted his own defence while naked!

He is lucky the Judge offered to release him on bail if he put some clothes on and didn't have him for contempt. It would seem, however, that other Scottish Judges have had him done for contempt, hence the long time inside.

Contrary to popular belief, being naked in public in the UK isn't a crime, however it would seem that Scotalnd takes a stricter approach to it than England or Wales. You actually get charged under Public order offences if it can be proven that you caused "harrassment, alarm or distress".

Nice try at spinning a story out of nothing though.



[edit on 13/1/10 by stumason]

Originally posted by seattletruth
So on one hand, you can't show your naked body, but on the other, you're required to show your naked body. Seems like Orwellian double-speak.

This world just makes no sense.

[edit on 13-1-2010 by seattletruth]

Although I understand your reasoning, I think that there is a difference between showing your body on a scanner screen to 1-2 people and showing it to the public... I personally have no problems with nudity, in fact I'd rather be naked than clothed but the police, and more importantly, my wife, seem to not like it so much...

I don't get the hype about nudity being bad... If it's so bad, people shouldn't look!

Peace

Magnum

reply to post by stumason


I didn't write the headline. If it was misconstrued I'm sorry, blame the newspaper.

From the article I understood that if he was caught again he would face life in prison? Maybe I'm wrong.

reply to post by seattletruth


If the guy doesn't scare small children and cats, what's the problem?



Really, though. Is he willing to live his life in prison for wanting to walk about naked? I guess he can walk about naked in prison for the rest of his life, and I wish him good luck with that.

Originally posted by seattletruth
reply to post by stumason

 

I didn't write the headline. If it was misconstrued I'm sorry, blame the newspaper.

From the article I understood that if he was caught again he would face life in prison? Maybe I'm wrong.

I agree with Magnum, I think that the story is badly writen but the underlining gist is that incessant nude trips means that he will be continually arrested and until a US 3 strike law in introduced, the moaners only way of controlling him would be to have him sectioned under some sort of trumped up mental health act ruling.

reply to post by seattletruth


You CANNOT get life for a Public order offence. At most, you'd get 18 months, depending on severity, although this guy seems to get anywhere between 90 days and 12 months, although the most severe sentences he has received have been as a result of appearing in court naked, thus being done for contempt.

Also, take note of where all his prison sentences have been handed down and served. If he rambled in England, he wouldn't be in anywhere near as much trouble.

reply to post by The_Archangel


We don't have the 3 strike rule and it is not on the cards to ever be introduced. This man just faces perpetual arrests, especially seeing as he is so keen on being naked in Scotland.

He should just put some clothes on, head down south to England and he'll be fine.

Just get the man a kilt for crying out loud! Next best thing to being naked!

Judge should have told him that no one wants to see his bag pipes!

If the naked rambler's crusade is to promote individual freedom, then it seems counter-productive to spend most of his life deprived of it.

My sympathies are with the man. I myself no longer look good enough to parade around in the nude, but as long as he's not hurting anybody I say let him do it.

He needs to find a way to protest that draws less draconian consequences. Even if he succeeds in making his point to millions, he will suffer needlessly in doing so.

Maybe there's some psychological secondary gain to be derived from his rebellion? He's probably received some sort of evaluation at this point in his career, but it hasn't seemed to change the way society deals with him.

Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by The_Archangel

 

He should just put some clothes on, head down south to England and he'll be fine.

I was thinking the very same thing. Cornwall maybe?

Right now I'd be a bit more worried about him catching his death of cold








NFL draft

[edit on 18-1-2010 by Tiffany87]