THE plan of the “Naked Rambler” to walk the length of Britain for a second time wearing nothing but boots and a rucksack came temporarily unstuck yesterday when he was jailed for two weeks for breach of the peace.

Stephen Gough, 46, from Bournemouth, appeared naked in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court where he was found guilty of conducting himself in a disorderly manner, exposing himself in public, causing fear and alarm and distracting drivers as he walked naked on the A701 near Edinburgh on September 1. He was arrested in Midlothian after being reported to police by a postman on his rounds.

Giving evidence, William Lister, 21, said that he was delivering letters in Bilston when he saw Gough and a female companion and almost said hello, before realising that they were naked. He decided to call police when he saw them later walking past a grandmother and a child and became concerned for the child, he said.

Three police officers also gave evidence that they found the naked couple, along with a BBC film crew, walking along the north side of the A701 in Bilston. Traffic was slowing down and drivers were tooting horns and shouting remarks out of their windows, the court was told.

Sentencing Gough yesterday, Sheriff Kenneth MacIver, said: “I have no doubt in my own mind that walking naked through a Scottish town and a main city road is not something which the Scottish public should be expected to have to deal with.”

He reminded Gough that he had appeared in court in Dingwall, in the Highlands, on three occasions for similar behaviour in previous years. He asked him if he intended to continue his walk, to which Gough replied: “As soon as my sentence is over I will continue my walk to John o’Groats. A person has got to do what they think is right. I am a man of integrity.” He denied that his behaviour was indecent and said that his aim was to promote tolerance and human rights. “I am not ashamed of my body,” he added.

Gough set out from Land’s End with two naked companions on June 17 intending to walk the 874 miles to John o’Groats without the benefit of clothing. Before reaching Scotland his progress had been steady, interrupted only briefly by two brushes with the law — in North Shropshire, where the case was dropped, and in North Yorkshire, where he was released on bail after being arrested.

When he was stopped outside Edinburgh he was with a naked female companion, Melanie Roberts, 34, also from Bournemouth, who he met a few weeks before embarking on his marathon trek.

Ms Roberts, wearing jeans and a top, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of breach of the peace in the Edinburgh court last week and had sentence deferred for six months for good behaviour.

In June 2003 Gough began his first naked ramble across Britain, and after 15 arrests and almost five months in jail, he finally completed the hike in January 2004, arriving at John o’Groats in freezing torrential rain. After the press photos had been taken, he admitted that he was relieved to be able to put on a jumper and trousers.

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