LONDON (AP) - A man attempting to walk the length of Britain naked to promote the right to go without clothes in public was convicted Wednesday of breaching the peace and sentenced to three months in jail.
Stephen Gough, 44, from Eastleigh in southern England, has endured repeated arrests since setting out in June to walk the 1,363 kilometres from Land's End in southwest England to John O'Groats in Scotland's far north.
He was most recently apprehended Nov. 29 after residents of Evanton, a village in the Scottish Highlands, complained about his walking through town wearing only boots, socks and a knapsack. He had been released from jail hours earlier.
Gough argued at his trial in Dingwall Sheriff Court in the Highlands that he had been exercising his right to free expression as guaranteed by the Human Rights Act.
"There is no law saying 'Thou shalt not go naked,' " said Gough, who testified wearing only a scarlet prison blanket tied with a police belt. "All I am doing is dressing how I want to dress and believing what I want to believe. . . . I am taking a stand and I hope that inspires others to do the same."
There is no law in Britain against public nudity. However, there are laws against indecent exposure - which requires proof of intent to insult a woman - or any behaviour likely to cause "harassment, alarm or distress."
Full Story from CNEWS
Stephen Gough, 44, from Eastleigh in southern England, has endured repeated arrests since setting out in June to walk the 1,363 kilometres from Land's End in southwest England to John O'Groats in Scotland's far north.
He was most recently apprehended Nov. 29 after residents of Evanton, a village in the Scottish Highlands, complained about his walking through town wearing only boots, socks and a knapsack. He had been released from jail hours earlier.
Gough argued at his trial in Dingwall Sheriff Court in the Highlands that he had been exercising his right to free expression as guaranteed by the Human Rights Act.
"There is no law saying 'Thou shalt not go naked,' " said Gough, who testified wearing only a scarlet prison blanket tied with a police belt. "All I am doing is dressing how I want to dress and believing what I want to believe. . . . I am taking a stand and I hope that inspires others to do the same."
There is no law in Britain against public nudity. However, there are laws against indecent exposure - which requires proof of intent to insult a woman - or any behaviour likely to cause "harassment, alarm or distress."
Full Story from CNEWS
