The Strange Case of Digby Bamford

15th of March 1964 a school boy in New South Wales, Australia, committed suicide, shortly after being expelled from school. His name was Digby Bamford, he was 13 years old. Bamford was expelled from school after it emerged he had been involved in 'promiscuity' with another pupil, there was an uproar in the local community and both Bamford and his girlfriend were expelled. Digby Bamford was found dead the following morning.

19th July 2011 was the day Rupert Murdoch claimed was the most humbling of his life. He was sitting before a parliamentary committee who where asking him questions with regards to the phone hacking scandal that shocked much of the nation. Murdoch claimed he was shocked that his publications and people in his employ were guilty of such a heinous crime. Both he and his son, James, claimed to disapprove of the phone hacking scandal.

The revelations concerning Digby Bamford emerged on the 12th of March 1964 on the front page of the Sydney Daily Mirror, a paper that was acquired by Murdoch earlier that year. Bamford and his girlfriend where subject to a local scandal when the information emerged, information that was acquired from the secret diary of Bamford's girlfriend. Journalists under Murdoch's direct employ had discovered the information about these school children which not only led to the expulsion of the two children, but ultimately to the suicide of a 13 year old boy.

Rupert Murdoch has been embroiled fully in the phone hacking scandal and has seen politicians which once went to great lengths to court his favour, now reject him. He went from being as popular as Gary Glitter in 1977 to being as popular as Gary Glitter in 2007. Murdoch claimed to have made mistakes, ones in which he had no direct involvement, ones which where the fault of employees he had no contact with, ones which he disapproved of, ones which he would never have done.

It would be trite of me to claim that Murdoch's involvement in the suicide of Digby Bamford was anything more than an unfortunate mistake. Rupert did not know that Bamford would commit suicide over the scandal and perhaps it was due to his memories of the Bamford situation that he felt so appalled with the phone hacking. One suicide, at the very start of his media career, is not reason enough to suspect him of wrongdoing. No, in all likelihood Murdoch felt deeply about Bamford's suicide, and (after an extensive cover up which lasted until the mid-seventies) vowed never to make such a mistake again.

Samantha MacAlpine may disagree with me. Well perhaps she would do if she where still alive. In 1977 MacAlpine was embroiled in a sex scandal involving BBC employees which was revealed by our favourite paper; The News of the World. Samantha was 15 years old. The News of the World revealed details of Top of the Pops presenters having sex with the young music fans, revelations which emerged from the secret diary of Samantha MacAlpine. The very next day Samantha committed suicide. A post-mortem revealed MacAlpine, who's name had been dragged through the mud, to be a virgin. A police enquiry lay the full blame for the suicide on Murdoch's News of the World. Both of these pieces of information where hidden by Murdoch after he curried favour with rival papers to prevent these revelations from emerging. Let us learn from our mistakes.

The Naked Truth: A Clothes Optional Blog

Steven Gough, better known as 'The Naked Rambler', was today jailed for almost two more years for once again being naked in public here in Scotland. You can read the BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-14649394

Here is some background on Steven Gough. He set off from Lands End in 2005 in an attempt to walk from there, across the country, until he would finally reach John O'Groats. It took him two short months to get to Scotland, still in 2005, and that is when his attempt stalled. Scottish law is very strict on public nudity and he has been arrested, re-arrested and sentenced to months on end in prison. Each time he has been released, each time he has stripped off to continue his journey and each time our finest boys in blue have re-arrested him and charged him. Today's sentence is only the latest in the past six years which has seen Mr. Gough in Scottish prison for the majority of the past decade.

I have a few problems with this, but most importantly, how is it in the public interest to keep Steven Gough in prison? Looking at a wrinkly naked body may not be the nicest thing to do in the world, but does that justify him spending seven years in prison? I generally dislike comparing prison sentences, but any Daily Mail reader will tell you that murders and rapists are getting lighter sentences. The crime that Mr. Gough is perpetually guilty of is 'breach of the peace' and 'contempt of court'. To be honest, putting someone in jail for so long for such minuscule crimes seems ridiculous.

There have been remarkably few complaints about Mr. Gough's nudity and far more messages sent to the Scottish authorities in support of him. I do not understand why this man should have to spend so much time locked up for being in the most natural state of dress there is. It is not as if he is breaking any sexual law or frightening or hurting anyone. He is a man who is sticking to his principles, and good on him. If someone wants to walk from Lands End to John O'Groats then good on them! This highlights how petty aspects of our legal system can be, and how little common sense the Scottish authorities seem to have.

It is common sense that the English authorities retained, never arresting him and never charging him when he walked the longest distance in his journey. I support Steven Gough, the Naked Rambler, and hope that eventually our authorities realise how pathetic and silly they are being. Nudity is not considered to be a serious problem amongst most of the public, yet it seems to be a huge problem in our legal system. Next time you are naked, whether it is in the shower tomorrow morning, or if you are about to start your own walk from Lands End to John O'Groats, spare a thought for a man who will eventually spend at least seven years in prison for daring to be natural. Free the Naked Rambler!