An appeal by six Pitcairn men against their convictions on serious sex abuse charges in a case that drew international attention ended in New Zealand today, with judges expected to deliver a verdict in mid-May.

Six men from remote Pitcairn Island today launched a challenge to the British laws used to convict them last year of a string of sex abuse cases dating back as many as 40 years.

Pitcairn Island, the remote Pacific community of descendants of HMS Bounty mutineers, has seen its population nudge closer to 50 after the birth of just the second baby in over 18 years.

THE son of the former mayor of the remote pacific island of Pitcairn appeared in court today charged with rape, the eighth islander to be prosecuted on a series of sexual assault charges dating back up to 40 years.

The son of the former mayor of the remote pacific island of Pitcairn appeared in court today charged with rape, the eighth islander to be prosecuted on a series of sexual assault charges dating back up to 40 years.

A Pitcairn islander accused of rape appeared before the tiny island’s court in New Zealand today, becoming the eighth man from the famous refuge of the Bounty mutineers to face such allegations.

An Australian court today delayed the extradition hearing of a Pitcairn Island man accused of taking part in a string of rapes and other sex crimes on the isolated Pacific island.

Britain is offering social workers what could be the ultimate challenge at one of the world’s most isolated locations – a job on Pitcairn Island, hit by a massive sex abuse scandal.

Pitcairn Island has picked the sister of convicted rapist Steve Christian to be its first woman mayor in its 214-year history, it was reported today.

Victims of the sex crimes six men of tiny Pitcairn Island experienced "a mix of emotions" when told of the sentences handed down to the men, a policewoman close to the victims said.

The mayor of Pitcairn Island was sentenced to three years imprisonment for rapes of young women on the remote and isolated home of descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers, British authorities in New Zealand said today.

As six Pitcairn men convicted of sex crimes await sentencing, observers say life on the remote Pacific outpost will never be the same again.

SIX men were convicted of a string of sex attacks on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn following trials that exposed a culture of sexual abuse of children on the tiny home of descendants of the 18th century Bounty mutineers.

Pitcairn islander Mike Warren has said he believed the prosecutions of a number of men from the island on sex abuse charges were a British “set-up”.

Six Pitcairn islanders were convicted today of a string of sex attacks, following trials that exposed a culture of abuse on the remote British Pacific territory, home to descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers.

The trials of seven men on Pitcairn Island, the remote Pacific island home to descendants of the Bounty mutineers, were drawing to a close today and judges were expected to deliver their verdicts Monday.

Seven men on trial for alleged sex attacks on tiny Pitcairn island – home to descendants of the Bounty mutineers – might have to wait until next year to learn if they will face jail, British officials said today.

Lawyers defending seven Pitcairn Islands men against a string of sex charges have been granted the right to challenge the trial process before Britain’s highest appellate court, British authorities said today.

A TRACTOR driver pleaded guilty to sex crimes on Pitcairn Island but he pleaded innocent to a further 12 charges.

A tractor driver pleaded guilty to sex crimes on Pitcairn Island, home to descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers, but he pleaded innocent to a further 12 charges.

A WOMAN testifying against two men she claims raped her as a child said she couldn’t tell anyone about the assaults because of the closed community mentality on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn.

A woman testifying against two men she claims raped her as a child said she couldn’t tell anyone about the assaults because of the closed community mentality on the remote Pacific island of Pitcairn.

THE postmaster of Pitcairn Island has pleaded guilty to the indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl, the first outcome in a series of trials at a makeshift court set up on the remote Pacific outpost to handle charges of sex abuse dating back decades.

The postmaster of Pitcairn Island has pleaded guilty to the indecent assault of a 12-year-old girl, the first outcome in a series of trials at a makeshift court set up on the remote Pacific outpost to handle charges of sex abuse dating back decades.

THE mayor of Pitcairn treated the young girls of the island like a personal harem, reserving for himself the right to sexually initiate them, a court on the island was told.

The prosecution in the cases of seven Pitcairn men accused of a catalogue of sexual offences against young girls on the island scored a significant victory yesterday when one of the defendants changed his plea to guilty.

A woman testifying in the sex abuse trial of the mayor of Pitcairn Island said he treated girls on the remote British territory like his “harem” and accused him of twice raping her.

A Pitcairn Island man on trial for sex abuse used to act as though young girls were available for him whenever he chose, a prosecutor said in a makeshift courtroom on the remote rocky outcrop populated by descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers.

A STRING of sex abuse trials opened yesterday on Pitcairn Island, the isolated British territory in the Pacific that is home to descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers.

A woman wept as she described being raped as a young girl by a man who is now mayor of Pitcairn Island, as his sex abuse trial opened on this remote rocky outcrop populated by descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers.

The mayor of tiny Pitcairn Island – home to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers – yesterday became the first of seven island men to stand trial for sex abuse, in a case that has split the isolated community.

The mayor of tiny Pitcairn Island – home to the descendants of the 18th-century Bounty mutineers – is among seven men accused in a string of sexual assaults in the isolated community dating back decades, court documents revealed today.

Half the men on remote Pitcairn Island, which is populated by descendants of the Bounty mutineers, go on trial tomorrow for a string of alleged sex attacks dating back up to 40 years.

Judges and lawyers are putting the final touches to preparations for a string of sex abuse trials that get under way on tiny Pitcairn Island later this week.

THE sex abuse trials of seven men from Pitcairn Island will begin on Monday, on the remote British outpost in the South Pacific that is home to the descendants of the Bounty mutineers.

The Supreme Court of tiny Pitcairn Island today rejected an application by seven men to have their trial on sex charges delayed until Britain’s Privy Council can consider their case.

Pitcairn islanders have been ordered to hand their guns to British authorities over fears that a six-week sex trial could lead to violence.

The remote Pacific island of Pitcairn remains a British territory despite claims it is independent, as prosecutors told a court that must rule if seven men facing sex charges should be tried under British law.

Nine men from Pitcairn Island – one fifth of the population – have been charged with sexual offences and will appear in court this week, a spokesman for the British High Commission said today.

A rape investigation on tiny Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific has snowballed.