--- description: Britain's "naked rambler" does not have a fundamental human right to ramble through the English countryside in the buff title: 'Naked Rambler' Stephen Gough Loses Court Battle to Stay in the Nude image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8205a6d433e3a737/698762fccd684849890975a1/naked-rambler.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Bizarre](/tag/bizarre/) ## Bizarre Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Top European Court Tells Nude Activist to Put Some Clothes On  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 28, 2014 2:40 PM CUT  Stephen Gough the naked rambler makes his way south through Scotland following his release from Saughton Prison yesterday after serving his latest sentence on Oct. 6, 2012 in Peebles, Scotland. Stephen Gough the naked rambler makes his way south through Scotland following his release from Saughton Prison yesterday after serving his latest sentence on Oct. 6, 2012 in Peebles, Scotland.Jeff J Mitchell—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 28, 2014 2:40 PM CUT Britain’s “naked rambler” does not have a fundamental human right to ramble through the English and Scottish countryside in the buff, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday. Stephen Gough, a.k.a. the “Naked Rambler,” argued that he was wrongfully convicted (30 times) and jailed (for 7 years) for his nude treks through the British countryside, which he said should have been protected under his right to privacy and free expression, NBC News [reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/naked-rambler-stephen-gough-loses-legal-battle-bare-all-n235361 "undefined"). The Strasbourg-based justices, however, ruled that “he had plenty of other ways of expressing his opinions” and determined that his particular form of expression constituted “deliberately repetitive antisocial conduct.” Gough first started making headlines in 2003 for his insistent determination to remain nude on the streets, in court, or even in prison, where, [according](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-29800016 "undefined") to the BBC, he was sequestered from the rest of the prison population because of his refusal to wear clothing. \[[_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/naked-rambler-stephen-gough-loses-legal-battle-bare-all-n235361 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3543408/europe-court-naked-rambler/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3543408/europe-court-naked-rambler/"},"headline":"Top European Court Tells Nude Activist to Put Some Clothes On","datePublished":"2014-10-28T14:40:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:06.915Z","description":"European Court of Human Rights tells \"Naked Rambler\" that refusing to wear clothes does not represent freedom of expression","url":"https://time.com/3543408/europe-court-naked-rambler/","keywords":["Bizarre","Newsfeed","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8205a6d433e3a737/698762fccd684849890975a1/naked-rambler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8205a6d433e3a737/698762fccd684849890975a1/naked-rambler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Naked Rambler Stephen Gough Makes His Way South Following Release From Saughton Prison","caption":"Naked Rambler Stephen Gough Makes His Way South Following Release From Saughton Prison","creditText":"Jeff J Mitchell—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bizarre/","name":"Bizarre"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3543408/europe-court-naked-rambler/","name":"Top European Court Tells Nude Activist to Put Some Clothes On"}}]}] ```