BilboMusic - Naked Rambler nabbed as he turns up for court in the nude

Stephen Gough, 46, was stopped by court officers as he made his way into the building at Chambers Street after being ordered to appear for a deferred sentence.

Gough refuses to wear clothes in a bid to raise awareness of nudity issues, which he believes is a natural right.

Last month he completed an 874-mile walk from Land's End to John O'Groats dressed in only socks and boots.

Today he was due to be sentenced by sheriffs Kathrine Mackie and Andrew Lothian after being found guilty in December of contempt of court for appearing in the dock naked. But he failed to show up for sentencing following his arrest by court police officers as he tried to enter the building with no clothes on.

"He is elsewhere in the building on a separate matter," defence agent John Good said.

Both sheriffs heard the separate cases in his absence and further deferred sentence until June 1 and 6 to await the outcome of a High Court appeal against the contempt convictions, which is expected to be heard in May.

"It will certainly be warmer then," Sheriff Mackie joked.

Gough, of Eastleigh, Hampshire, is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court from custody tomorrow on the new charge.

During his year-long walk, he was arrested repeatedly in Scotland for breaching the peace by exposing his private parts in public and was found in contempt of court three times by Edinburgh sheriffs for appearing naked in the dock.

He was first detained in Midlothian along the A701 Edinburgh to Penicuik Road last September 1 while on his walk with partner, Melanie Roberts, a 34-year-old hairdresser.

Miss Roberts pleaded guilty and sentence was deferred for good behaviour. Gough was found guilty after trial, during which he appeared naked, and was jailed for 14 days.

He was re-arrested on September 15 after being released into Saughton car park, where he refused to cover up.

He was released on bail on condition he did not expose his private parts.

He was next arrested in Dingwall, where he was sentenced to two months and sent back to Saughton for breaching the Edinburgh bail condition.

He was released on November 3 and immediately arrested outside the prison once more on the same charge.

While appearing for trial on the car park arrests he has three times been found in contempt of court for refusing to cover up in the dock.

Not guilty pleas have been accepted for the Saughton breaches of the peace and he was admonished for breaching bail, but the contempt charges still stand.

On November 15, he was jailed for three months for the first contempt.

He decided to appeal this decision on the grounds that a sheriff should not rule on a contempt case without a separate hearing.

The second two contempt convictions before Sheriffs Mackie and Lothian are awaiting sentence following his appeal.

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=952&id=313872006

Page Last Updated: 4 March, 2010

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