Protester Vincent Bethell left the cells naked, sh

Protester Vincent Bethell left the cells naked, shivering in the biting January breeze, but heralding a victory for his campaign.

Vowing to continue his fight for the right to go about without a stitch on – although the public demonstrations might wait for warmer weather – he told reporters: ‘Now I want to test this as a legal precedent, to see if it makes any difference.

I just want to see what happens.

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Promising he would soon dress in a borrowed prison tracksuit to protect himself from the cold, he gleefully said: ‘You do get used to it but I don’t think I could stand it all day.

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But as Edward Pope, 52, from Oxford, a fellow member of his Freedom to be Yourself campaign, frolicked naked in the background, Bethell said:

‘This is great progress.

It is the first time I have been tried by members of the public – the jury system is so important.

‘It sends a strong message to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service that the public have proved that being human is not a crime.

‘Hopefully they will now stop persecuting us.

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He said it had been ‘very trying’ whilst on remand at Brixton Prison in segregation and he did not know if he could face such an ordeal again.

‘It’s something I would have to weigh up very carefully.

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Bethell said his father supported his stance but disputed his tactics but admitted his mother was less sure – although she had continued to convey her love for him whilst he was behind bars.

He claimed to have suffered ‘great intimidation and insults’ from prison staff over his stance, and to have been ‘manhandled’ and ‘abused’ whilst remanded in custody.

‘This is a major breakthrough for this campaign,’ he said.

‘The issue has been decided by ordinary members of the public.

‘It is about humanity – life is too short to be ashamed over the appearance of the human body.

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