Pitcairners sought British advice, says Crown

Adultery, abortion, kleptomania, attempted murder and the theft of women's underpants were among the crimes on which Pitcairners had sought British advice in decades past, the Pitcairn Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Faded records of court cases from the past century were produced yesterday by Crown prosecutors contesting a legal challenge by six islanders found guilty last year of raping and sexually abusing girls in their tiny South Pacific community.

The six, who include Pitcairn's former mayor, Steve Christian, claim they did not know that English law applied to the island. If they convince the three judges, sitting in Papakura District Court, the verdicts will be overturned and jail terms handed down to four of the men will not be enforced.

The old documents, which the Crown has submitted as evidence that Pitcairners were fully aware of English law, provide a fascinating snapshot of life on the island in years past.

The court heard that in the 1950s, Pitcairn elders asked their colonial masters, based in Fiji, to assist them with the case of Joyce Christian, who wanted a divorce from her husband, Radley, on grounds of serial adultery.

Mrs Christian claimed that while she was pregnant, her sister Jenny came to visit from New Zealand, and she twice found her and Radley in bed together. More marital discord emerges from two court cases in 1936 in which Eldon and Julia Coffin were accused of attempting to murder each other.

Mrs Coffin admitted putting liniment in her husband's drink.

Mr Coffin, meanwhile, admitted firing a shotgun and just missing his wife, but claimed he had been shooting at a chicken.

Simon Mount, a Crown prosecutor, said the cases were referred to colonial authorities by the island magistrate because they were too serious to be dealt with under local law.

Mr Mount also produced records relating to the case of Donald Young, who was found in the house of Tom and Betty Christian. Young was suspected of intending to steal underpants from Olive Brown, a girl in their care.

The judges heard that British officials were unsuccessful in their attempts to have Morris Christian, a kleptomaniac given to bursts of violent behaviour, taken off the island. On one occasion, Christian's attempts to resist arrest sparked such a commotion that the chief magistrate resigned on the spot "out of sheer fright".

The hearing continues today.