Pitcairn abuse trial heads home

By ALAN PERROTT

The trial of 13 Pitcairn Islanders facing sex charges will be shifted to the island in September.

The decision to move proceedings in the long-running saga was made by the Pitcairn Supreme Court sitting in the Papakura District Court yesterday.

Thirteen men face multiple sex charges following allegations of widespread abuse on the island dating from five to 40 years ago.

The allegations, including rape, indecent assault and assault against young children, arose in 1999.

The tiny island, halfway between New Zealand and Chile, has no airfield and is accessible only by boat.

It has a population of about 50, no jail and no television, and is famous as the home of Fletcher Christian and his band of mutineers, who took over the British merchant ship Bounty in April 1789, turning Captain William Bligh and 18 crew adrift in an open boat.

Britain administers the island and its laws and pays for much of its costs.

The moving of the trial to Pitcairn was supported by Crown and defence representatives, although deputy public defender Allan Roberts said he would lodge an application within seven days for the charges to be dropped because of the delay in getting the cases to court.

Last April, Pitcairn public defender Paul Dacre, based in Auckland, lost his bid to have the islanders tried by their own community.

He unsuccessfully argued that the British Government had no jurisdiction on the island after the Bounty was burned by Christian and his mutineers.

The island's Auckland-based public prosecutor, Simon Moore, yesterday said the change in venue was in the best interests of the accused, complainants and the Pitcairn Island community.

The complainants will not be required to return to the island and will give any evidence via satellite link.

The trials will begin on September 23 and are expected to take up to seven weeks. They will involve three judges, two courts operating simultaneously, and three counsel representing each side.

Following the decision, the British Government asked the New Zealand Department for Corrections for help in staffing a prison facility on Pitcairn. Six officers could be sent on three-monthly rotations.

Deputy Governor of Pitcairn Matthew Forbes said the move should not be seen as prejudging the case, but was necessary so they could prepare for all contingencies.