The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed the case of ‘naked rambler’ Stephen Gough, who claimed that he suffered repression over his public nudity.
Gough, 55, took his case to the Court after repeated convictions and imprisonment for being naked in public and breaching the peace in England and Scotland since 2003.
He was re-arrested on a number of occasions as he left prison walking naked, with the sentence increasing each time.
Gough’s legal case relied on Article 8, the right to respect for private and family life, and Article 10, freedom of expression, but his arguments were declared inadmissible by the Court, which found that there had been no violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Court found:
“The applicant’s case is troubling, since his intransigence has led to his spending a substantial period of time in prison for what is, in itself, usually a relatively trivial offence.
“However, the applicant’s imprisonment is the consequence of his repeated violation of the criminal law in full knowledge of the consequences, through conduct which he knew full well not only goes against the standards of accepted public behaviour in any modern democratic society but also is liable to be alarming and morally and otherwise offensive to other, un-warned members of the public going about their ordinary business.”
Gough was found guilty of breaching and anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) and jailed for two and a half years earlier this month for walking out of prison wearing only his walking boots and socks.
