Stephen Gough has been convicted of public order offences at least 40 times.
35 Facts About Stephen Gough
1.
2.
Stephen Peter Gough was born on 13 May 1959 in Southampton, Hampshire, to Nora Evelyn Gough and carpenter Kenneth Gough.
3.
Stephen Gough was arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions during the course of his ramble.
4.
In 2000, Stephen Gough moved to Vancouver, Canada, for a year with his then-partner Alison Ward and their two children.
5.
Stephen Gough went to Canada one man and turned into someone else.
6.
Stephen Gough said he questioned "things we're taught to believe are right".
7.
Stephen Gough visited an Eastleigh police station and asked if it was illegal to walk naked in the street.
8.
Stephen Gough claimed that the police "couldn't come up with an answer".
9.
In January 2003, Stephen Gough embarked on his first naked walk in England.
10.
Stephen Gough headed from his mother's Hampshire home to Eastleigh town centre.
11.
Stephen Gough was arrested twice in England, but was almost immediately released.
12.
Stephen Gough claimed that Articles 3 and 5 to 11 had been repeatedly breached by the authorities since he and Melanie had arrived in Scotland.
13.
Stephen Gough was involved with the public nudity advocacy group The Freedom to be Yourself.
14.
Stephen Gough was arrested again on 19 May 2006 at Edinburgh Airport after removing his clothes during a flight from Southampton to Edinburgh and refusing to get dressed.
15.
On 9 April 2007, Stephen Gough was cleared of charges related to his refusal to dress upon being released into Saughton Prison car park in Edinburgh.
16.
In January 2008, after spending most of the previous 20 months in jail, Stephen Gough was released and told that if he went for three months without appearing naked in public he would not be returned to jail for outstanding convictions; two hours later he left the court naked and was immediately re-arrested and subsequently returned to jail.
17.
Stephen Gough served his time in Barlinnie Prison and was released on 14 October 2008, when he was again immediately arrested for leaving the prison naked.
18.
In July 2009, Stephen Gough, standing in the dock naked, was jailed at Perth for a further 12 months for breach of the peace.
19.
Sheriff MacFarlane was told that the bill for dealing with Stephen Gough had cost the public an estimated several hundred thousand pounds.
20.
The court heard how Stephen Gough had finished a previous jail term at Perth Prison and was released to enjoy freedom for the first time in several months.
21.
Stephen Gough's freedom lasted less than 30 seconds after he walked naked from the prison door to Edinburgh Road.
22.
Stephen Gough was sentenced to four months for refusing to dress before the trial.
23.
On 8 February 2010, Stephen Gough was convicted of breach of the peace and contempt of court, charges relating to walking naked in Perth and appearing naked in court.
24.
Stephen Gough was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment, his longest sentence to date.
25.
Stephen Gough was assessed by Dr Gary Macpherson, a Scottish consultant forensic clinical psychologist.
26.
Stephen Gough was sentenced to 15 months and 26 days.
27.
Stephen Gough is understood to have spent his time in prison in solitary confinement.
28.
Stephen Gough was released on 20 July 2011, but immediately rearrested after leaving the prison naked, and received another 657-day sentence.
29.
When his sentence concluded on 17 July 2012, Stephen Gough left the prison naked again, but this time the police allowed him to go on his way.
30.
Stephen Gough was arrested in Carterton, Oxfordshire, on suspicion of outraging public decency on 4 December and was then refused bail and spent Christmas 2012 in jail after his application for bail was refused.
31.
In 2012, Stephen Gough won the Nicolas Salmeron Human Rights Award from the Spanish human rights group, Fundacion Internacional de Derechos Humanos.
32.
On 19 June 2013, Stephen Gough was imprisoned for 11 months for breaching an antisocial behaviour order on 28 February minutes after it was granted, having recently returned home.
33.
Stephen Gough was not allowed to appear in court as he refused to wear clothes.
34.
Stephen Gough challenged UK laws on public nudity in the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that such laws violated his right to privacy and free expression.
35.
On 14 August 2015, Stephen Gough was released from Winchester prison.