Loading summary
A
We'll get back to your true crime story in just a moment. This podcast is part of the Always True Crime Network, home of thousands of episodes exploring gripping true crime cases. If you're looking for somewhere to start, check out our recent investigative series, Project Mind Control. It uncovers a chilling chapter in history, examining the disturbing experiments carried out on vulnerable people in an attempt to erase and reprogram the human mind. Featuring testimony from one of the last known survivors of a notorious Canadian psychiatric institution, it's a powerful story that's as shocking as it is important. Check out the show and more@always truecrime.com.
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health, and get you set up on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start. For your phone and your wallet, visit Boost Mobile, unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
C
To some, AI chatbots are helpful tools. To others, an existential threat. But what happens when someone falls in love with one?
D
I can't believe I'm doing this with
E
somebody that's not a human.
C
What if a chatbot makes you lose your grip on reality?
F
She said that her life work was advocating for AI rights because they're sentient and they're enslaved.
C
From CBC Podcasts. This is artificial intimacy. Available now.
F
A warning this episode of the Pitcairn Trials contains graphic discussion of child sexual abuse and strong language. From the start,
G
I just sat there and I just went and I just went. It just literally poured out of me.
F
It's the year 2000 and everything has changed. For Glenda, it was like a balloon burst.
H
You said to me, yeah, yeah, that somebody had pricked the balloon and she couldn't not say what. Yeah, she needed to.
F
Having told no one on Pitcairn about the abuse that she'd suffered and no one in the decade since. While she was living in England, the truth was finally out. Her police interview with the Kent coppers Peter George and Rob Vinson, took the best part of a whole day. Now Operation Unique, investigating widespread child sexual abuse on the tiny, remote British territory of Pitcairn, was full steam ahead.
G
We were called liars and everything else. It never happened. One person in particular Said, oh, no. She says, I was gagging for it, gagging for it. And I knew darn well that she'd been done the same as well.
F
The police only found Glenda because they wanted to corroborate another victim's story. But here she was, with a devastating tale of her own to tell, opening up decades of secrecy on the island. She was ready to fight, to speak out, potentially testify in court. After all of these years of silence, she wanted justice. But would the British establishment, that for so many years seemingly forgot about Pitcairn, now prosecute these terrible, numerous allegations that had emerged from it? This is episode five of the Pitcairn Trials. Order.
G
Order.
F
As Peter and Rob from Kent police and Karen Vaughan from the New Zealand police combed through evidence, the question troubling the British diplomatic staff was whether prosecutions were possible and whether they were appropriate.
I
The fact is that it was right on the other side of the world, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and it had been left entirely to itself for some time.
F
The then governor of Pitcairn, by virtue of being the British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Martin Williams, was pondering the options.
I
Therefore, there were quite a lot of people, including, I think, Leon Salt, at one stage.
F
Leon Salt was the UK government's Pitcairn Commissioner at the time, based in New Zealand.
I
There were a lot of people discussing whether a trial was the right way to proceed or whether it was, in fact better to proceed by means of a sort of general pardon in response to an acknowledgement, some sort of process by which one would try to resolve the issue.
F
Leon Salt in Auckland wrote to Martin Williams in Wellington.
J
I would like to ask that you consider a view I have.
F
The community wouldn't survive any of the offenders being imprisoned, Mr. Salt wrote, not
J
only because there will be difficulties in manning the launches, but also because of recrimination or animosity of one family towards another. While there can be nothing to excuse the serious abuses that have occurred on Pitcairn and nothing should be said to minimise the offending, an appropriate solution and punishment needs to be found. The legal Adviser's suggestion of an amnesty, later modified to some form of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is sensible.
F
Truth and reconciliation. A Royal commission is also suggested, as are full public apologies, suspended police sentences,
J
the removal of passports, a given number of days of weekly unpaid community work, removal of alcohol licenses and a curfew.
F
Governor at the time, Martin Williams.
I
My approach was the following, that the message we had to get across was, this is wrong, this is against the law this has got to stop. And I was quite prepared to see that trials would be one way of dealing with this. But I wasn't sure at first that that was the best way of dealing with it. Particularly with the risk that if you were to launch trials which then were to collapse for whatever reason, either because people weren't prepared to uphold their accusations against the perpetrators for whatever reason, or if it was found out that there was some legal anomaly in the way in which the whole thing was being handled, that would be disastrous.
F
It was referred up, up and up the British diplomatic greasy pole.
C
CJB White oversees Territories Department by fax
F
Baroness Scotland has commented that the report makes very troubling reading restricted.
K
The Secretary of State said he would like a report on the handling of this problem.
F
Diplomatic cables were bursting with questions. Were trials the right way to go? Would the existing patchwork of laws prove robust? Would the difficult conditions of holding a trial on Pitcairn mean that the defence could reasonably argue a fair trial wasn't possible? What if the accused who ran the longboats simply refused to bring the barristers and judges ashore? And if many of the men were found guilty, what would the impact on the island be? How high did this feature on the in tray of the then Foreign Secretary or Ministers in London? Or was this a large concern?
I
As far as I was concerned, it was very a major issue and in fact I remember very distinctly quite a long conversation which I had with the Minister who was dealing with the affairs of the Overseas Territories.
F
This was Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland. She was then a qc, a barrister who had specialised in the family courts, particularly on issues of child abuse. In the year 2000 she was a Minister in the Foreign Office.
I
Baroner Scotland, after all, had quite a lot of experience over legal cases. So she was in a way a good minister to being responsible for this sort of decision.
F
From an archive at the University of Hawaii we've got our hands on a Foreign Office letter summarising one of the many meetings on this.
K
We've had a shambolic move of officers
F
last weekend, an official in the Overseas Territories Department writes.
K
We now have computer terminals but no printers. The Minister and acknowledged the many and substantial logistical difficulties in conducting the trials on the long term implications. The Minister said that she recognised that the potential proceedings could jeopardise the viability of the community, but that this was a risk we had to face. Up to print is suddenly kicked into life. Thirty minutes after I sent an instruction
F
to print, another official put it like this. Justice should be done fully, freely and without constraint, even if this leads to the dislocation of the community. However, the debate went even further up the chain.
L
My name is Claire short and from 1997 to 2003 I was the Secretary of State for International Development.
F
Baroness Scotland was a junior minister in the Foreign Office who were in charge of foreign policy. Claire Short was in charge of the International Development Department, responsible for all the aid money. She had hold of the Pitcairn purse strings.
L
On the financial side. We as a department had the responsibility to keep an eye on them and take care of what needed taking care of. And I don't remember Pitcairn coming to me at first, but apparently the jetty where the boats landed was falling apart and the path up from there in very bad condition.
F
The Hill of Difficulty had become too difficult to drive up and needed resurfacing.
L
And so officials brought forward documents with the estimates of the cost and the explanation of what the problem was. We were all going to go ahead and authorise it, might have even done that. And then one of my officials came and, and said, there are these allegations of child sex abuse. So I said, oh, wait a minute, stop.
F
She raised this even further up the ranks to the Foreign Secretary at the time, Robin Cook. Claire Short wrote, I have suspended the Hill of Difficulty Road and Jetty project on the island for two reasons. First, if the child abuse allegations prove to have foundation, we shall want to understand the impact that prosecutions and possible imprisonment will have on. We do not want to build an 800,000 pound road for a population seriously depleted and or economically unsustainable. She said. Secondly, depending on the seriousness of the situation, we may need to redirect available resources into social interventions designed to put in place child protection measures.
L
The Foreign Office was very keen to get on with building the things and didn't want me doing any interfering with the child sex abuse allegations. This was very early on in those
F
allegations, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook replied,
A
thank
F
you for your letter.
B
We should continue a policy of business as usual with the island.
A
The suspension of the project at an
F
advanced stage will be as much a
B
blow to the victims of the abuse as any other resident of the island. If it becomes public, it may also
F
run the risk of appearing to prejudge the outcome of a judicial process. He was also annoyed about the private donors to the Road and Jetty project, who might be annoyed with public figures
A
not shy of publicity, like Robert Redford
F
having contributed to the funding, as in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Robert Redford questions may well be asked we do need to head her off, one Foreign Office official noted in the advice to the Foreign Secretary. But Claire Short had other plans.
L
I mean, it seems to me it's like the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts and whatever, it doesn't matter. It has to be confronted. And the fact that it was so entrenched and widespread and long standing meant even more it had to be confronted.
F
The road and jetty plans were shelved and extra money went into the abuse
L
inquiries, which annoyed them a lot because apparently it was quite difficult to. To get boats in and out and all that. It was a good idea to annoy them if they weren't cooperating, which I believe they weren't.
F
Claire wrote in a letter at the time. I suggest that we need to face up to the reality that the Pitcairn community is probably so socially dysfunctional that we should cease to plan to support and sustain it, and should instead consider supporting resettlement alongside psychological help and counselling for those who need it. Voluntary depopulation should be looked at as far as you were concerned then at the time. If it did mean that a community on Pitcairn ceased to exist because of the effects of prosecution, I mean, so be it.
L
Well, what's the alternative? So we don't do anything so they can carry on sexually abusing young people. I mean, it's what they call a no brainer. So they can consider all they like, but there's no alternative. And we got there in the end.
I
My owner view was as governor of Pitcairn island, if it's dysfunctional, what you've got to do is to sort out the dysfunctionality rather than just abandon it. If that's their decision, then, although I was the governor of Pitcairn island, that decision was one for ministers in London to take and we had to go ahead with it.
C
Overseas territory department pick can next steps. There are likely to be prosecutions brought,
F
so the British Foreign Office would support prosecutors bringing charges if they saw fit. That was decided. But in the meantime, Martin's team had to figure out the logistics. What were the plans for, if charges were actually laid, how it would be
I
organized then, what sort of facilities would be needed on the island? If it was to be on the island or elsewhere, There are various possibilities. Talked about trials in Britain, trials in New Zealand.
C
Facilities on Pitcairn will not be adequate for what is envisaged.
I
If you have trials on the island, then you've got to have all the officials of the court, including the prosecutor, the defence lawyers, the judges, the recorders. Everyone would have to be on the island.
C
Logistics issues may now include provision of necessary communication, establishment of a restraint facility on Pitcairn.
F
There was a small jail already on Pitcairn. It wasn't fit for purpose. It was termite infested and used as storage.
I
You'd have to have somewhere where you could hold the accused. You'd have to have arrangements so that there wouldn't be a riot on the island. It would have to be managed as well.
C
We need to consider how, when and what to tell the islanders. Tied in with this is the need to sort out firearms policy and storage. I believe that as tensions rise, it will be important to have a government presence on the island. I thought you might like some warning that things may hopefully start to move quite quickly now, which means we may need to start spending money quite rapidly. Yours, Karen Wolstenholme, Deputy Pitcairn Governor.
F
This debate went on and on and on and on.
G
At least two years, two, two and a half years, something like that, yes.
F
Glenda had painfully poured out her story for the first time, Remember, not just to police officers, but to her husband. And now she, like other victims, were just left waiting. Her counsellor, Sandy, remembers. It was an agonizing period for Glenda.
H
You were really quite convinced that it was never going to come to court. You wanted it to. You were angry and wanted people to know what was going on on the island. But on the other part of you felt it was kind of like a fantasy and it would never happen because there were so many twists and turns of trying to avoid a court hearing.
G
I mean, we were called liars and everything else. It never happened. There were some that had fallen out because they said, yes, this happened to my daughter and everything else. And the others are saying, no, we asked for it. One person in particular said, oh, no. She says, I was gagging for it, gagging for it. And I knew darn well that she'd been done the same as well. But this particular person was still living on the island.
H
And the other thing that caused you big problems was when there was a big gap between communication from Rob and Peter, because Glenda was all the time worried about what was going to come out, what was going to happen, who was going to be contacted, who was going to know about it all, really. You were very understanding about what Rob and Peter had to do, but at the same time, you were really frustrated and angry with them. Them, because you were left hanging in between. I mean, in all honesty, they were very good and I used to say to you, didn't I?
M
Just.
H
Just ring them. We particularly will always talk to you and let you know what's happening. It was a very difficult time, wasn't it?
F
Yeah. Now, it wasn't just diplomatic wrangling, accounting for the delay. This was an enormous investigation that Peter, Rob and Karen were trying to get on top of.
M
We had some offenders that were in New Zealand, some in Australia. Most of them were on Pitcairn. But of course, in New Zealand and Australia, we had no powers at all. So, you know, you knock on the door, I want to talk to you about this. Couldn't arrest them. They had no powers of arrest. So that was difficult part. We did get some willingly come into the police station. Some actually admitted it, Most didn't, but some did.
F
What did you make of them?
M
Well, their attitude, you know, was very poor towards women. I mean, one in particular, we interviewed him off the island, and his attitude was, what you gonna do about the bitches? That was his words.
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health and and get you set up on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile, unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
F
Summer smells like citrus in the sun.
K
Turn your home into a daily getaway
F
with Pura's new summer collection. Find your flow and fragrance and explore the scents@pura.com.
E
if you sold somebody a loaded gun who you knew was in a vulnerable state and they shot themselves, I think it is murder.
F
Just because you're using the Internet doesn't mean you get away with murder.
D
I'm Damon Fairless, host of Hunting Warhead. This season, I take you inside the business of suicide and the places desperate people go when they can't find what they need in the real world. Hunting the Suicide Salesman. Available now. Wherever you get your podcasts,
F
Remember, the men had always been in charge on Pitcairn. They physically kept the place running. They got supplies and people on and off the island. And the women and girls knew that. What about the ones who furiously denied it?
M
Well, their attitude again was, it didn't happen. I didn't do that. I didn't do that. So, you know, again, we had a lot of one word against another, so we had to look for some form of corroboration. And first thing we had to prove that these, you know, these two people, the man, the offender and the victim were both on island at the same time when it's alleged it happened. So how can we do that? Well, there's a monthly publication on Pitcairn called the Pitcairn Miscellany and they record in there what's happening on Pitcairn, what ships are coming, what ships are going, what ships stopped, who left the island, who returned to the island.
F
There's a full archive of the Pitcairn.
K
M. Westmoreland, our first supply ship from New Zealand for three months was eagerly awaited with the anti anticipation of mail and 15 tons of cargo, which were
F
expected the Pitcairn MacElany reported. In April 1973, Glenda left for England
K
on the same ship traveling to the United Kingdom where she will be married. Ginge was one of our royal engineer visitors in July last year. We wish them both well.
M
Those Pitcairn machelles are all stored in the Pitcairn island admin office in Auckland. And we spent weeks going through every single one to record. Right, so victim A is there and Offender A is there, so we can prove they're there together at the time. Witnesses are not going to be any. As such. We started putting the case files together.
F
The list of victims grew and grew but. But then started to shrink.
M
You know, a lot of them, actually, although they'd made statements to us later, pulled out and you can understand why the pressure they had from the islanders, from their. Because they knew their dad was probably an offender for somebody else. So they think, well, I'm going to lock my dad up, yeah, or my brother or something like that. So the pressure on them was. Was tremendous.
F
What started as 30 alleged perpetrators was whittled down to 16. Some of the accused were already dead, so they obviously couldn't be charged. For some there wasn't enough evidence and in some instances complainants withdrew their evidence. One of the police team remembers that it took two years on and off to photocopy and redact all the evidence. They had to hand over to each man's defence team a process called disclosure. The stacks of bundles went all the way up to the ceiling. They remember they even broke the photocopier in the process. Once you handed over your case files, they had to sort of establish a judicial system to actually Prosecute it?
M
Yeah, exactly. It set up a whole complete judicial system for Pitcairn Island. I never thought they'd do it, but they did.
F
With the British governor of Pitcairn based in New Zealand, it was their legal community that was lent on.
M
All right.
F
New Zealand even had to pass legislation through their parliament to make all of this work as well. A new ordinance, a law issued by the governor of Pitcairn was passed establishing a new court structure on the island different to the one that Kent PC Gale Cox had exercised and so diligently rehearsed a few years back. A chief justice was appointed, Judge Blackie, a man called Paul Dacre, not that one, was appointed public defender of Pitcairn. And Simon Moore, who at the time was crowned solicitor in Auckland, the top prosecutor in a part of the country which had the biggest caseload, was picked to be the Pitcairn public prosecutor.
M
And we compiled a set of case papers and put it to them for a decision. Now, I must admit, I thought if that was over here with the Crown Prosecution Service, I wouldn't prosecute, because it's one word against another. They'd see it as less than a 50 chance of a successful prosecution and it wouldn't have come to trial.
F
This is the curious thing, though, isn't it, in that your Kent police in New Zealand putting to their prosecution service a decision whether to prosecute something in Pitcairn, which is a British overseas territory.
M
Yes, that's right. It was a real minefield and I think it set a lot of head scratching as how are we going to deal with this?
E
I was very impressed with the way the Foreign Office dealt with things, because they were hands off.
F
This is Simon Moore, who was public prosecutor for Pitcairn at the time, making
E
it quite clear that it was for the public prosecutor to decide whether whether to lay charges or not.
F
For Simon, there were two questions that still had to be answered.
E
So it's a very different sort of situation from the one that you would encounter if you were sitting at a desk in London or a desk in Auckland. You know instinctively what public interest factors are in determining whether or not to prosecute. You know, it's instinctive, it's environmental. You. You know, you're living there in that environment. But we kept on being told the. That Pitcairn community was unique and different. We were being told that if the decision to prosecute was made and these men, particularly those on the island, were prosecuted and imprisoned, then the island, to use the words of at Least some I spoke to would be doomed.
F
There was only one way to grapple with this. Simon thought, if you want us to
E
undertake this exercise, we have to go to Pitcairn, talk to the community and get some kind of sense, albeit superficial, and I accept it would have to be superficial, but get some sense of how the community felt.
F
Simon and a contingent of lawyers, diplomats and police set off for their field trip. At least one brought their children. Oddly, by now it was October 2001. This was only going to be a flying visit, but again, the only way was by boat. Seven days on a container ship.
E
That was an absolutely fascinating experience as well. I remember waking up in the morning and looking out through the porthole and seeing the island coming up over the horizon, silhouetted by rising sun, was the most extraordinary view. And as we steamed towards it, it came out of the horizon and grew larger and larger. The captain was very concerned about the reception that we might get on the island, because the long boats which service the island and which provide a taxi service between the ships that stop off the island and the island itself were substantially operated by those who were putative defendants. And so there was a real concern, not so much by us, but certainly by the captain, that something bad might happen. And so he said that he would just sit off the island or some hours, which was a very generous thing because shipping schedules have to be really tight. And he was heading to the Panama Canal and then up the east coast of the United States to land his cargo. Anyway, he hung off the island for a few hours until we sent a message back saying all was well.
F
Just like all the foreign officials who had landed on Pitcairn in the last few years, they soon met people whose names they immediately recognized from complaints and from case files. Simon says there wasn't any hostility. He just remembers a certain coolness. Someone else in the party, one of the female officials, told me that the possible defendants seemed scared of them. I knew who all the alleged offenders were, she said. I went up to Steve Christian, looked him in the eye, shook his hand, and introduced myself. His eyes went wide, she said. He didn't look at me and just shuffled off. Someone else, she said, just made a run for it to their quad bike and scurried away.
E
That afternoon there was arranged for us a community fishing expedition.
F
A small flotilla of boats headed out of the jetty at Bounty Bay and round the island until just before down rope to a small bay with a
E
cave that was all perfectly pleasant. I picked up the odd comment, which was probably intended to be more sort of oche than it really was, Such as wall. Certain of those whose names I had recognized, making comments to each other. Nothing about the prosecutions at all.
F
Comments about you or taking the piss of it. It was taking the piss out of you.
M
You.
F
I see a little bit. And then that gave you a sense of there being a bit of an edge.
E
There was a bit of an edge and it didn't matter in the slightest. Gosh, it's perfectly natural. I took it for what it was. These people who would much rather be woods in their pipe,
F
the fish caught on this expedition were taken back to the landing for what they called a fish fry. Remember, this is a foreign delegation here to see whether they should level child sexual abuse abuse charges against a third of the male islanders. But on the face of it, this was a day of fun, a great day. A fishing trip like no other. Pitcairn miscellaney reported, leaving out any details of the guests or why they were there.
E
There was a feast, so they had, you know, fried fish and fish cooked in different ways. And this was obviously designed to showcase the island to us. There were some somewhat cynical comments made to us by others at that time that they had never seen the community engaged like this ever before. So there was a sense that what was being put on for us was a demonstration of community cohesion which mightn't in fact reflect the reality.
F
Simon called a public meeting. He explained what a public prosecutor was, what the job entailed, and how any decision to prosecute would be taken. Simon and co were there for 10 days in total. He says they sought the view of every islander. Only a handful refused to talk.
E
There were a lot of islanders who expressed the view to us that if people had committed offences or it was believed that they had committed offences, they should be charged and they should be dealt with in accordance with the usual rule of law. Those were views that obviously reported to us on a confidential basis. And we never. We never solicited those views in a public way at all because there were powerful people on the island and there
I
were
E
others who were very much less powerful. We were very conscious of those factors, and we were also conscious that almost everyone was related one way or another. Again, which is a unique aspect of these prosecutions. And we needed to take those allegiances into account and assessing the weight that we gave to the various people we spoke to. So some were very clear that if these prosecutions proceeded, the island would be doomed. Those views were largely expressed by defendants because we did speak to putative defendants. And I think we ended up after that week of having a pretty good sense of where everyone stood in relation to prosecution. There certainly wasn't a uniformity of view, but I think there was a fairly strong thread that the Ken island should not be an outlier.
F
The delegation is waved off after spending just under two weeks on Pitcairn. The next month there are earthquakes and heavy rain, something the month will long be remembered for. Pitcairn Miscellany notes in a small box at the very bottom of that same page. Stop press. The governor of Pitcairn has announced that as of October 2001, the revised edition of the laws come into force. The legal preparation was, When did you then have to make your determination and how did you communicate that to them?
E
So we went back to New Zealand and poured over the material, and off the back of that, we prepared a charge list of those who we considered should be charged and for what offenses. And then I recorded a video.
F
The video was dispatched to Pitcairn in spring 2002. My purpose in speaking to you now, Simon Moore says in the transcript that we have, is to let you know that I have done what I said I would do. I've made my decision. My decision is that there will be prosecutions. He said that once the question of where the trials would be held, Pitcairn or New Zealand, had been decided, he would lay the charges. He said he wouldn't announce this publicly, but there's a real risk that the news would make it into the newspapers. He warned, ultimately, this is up to you to decide whether or not what I have said gets into the media. I hope that at least some of the earlier uncertainty and anxiety will be reduced by what I have said. Thank you. In a separate video, the public defender, Paul Dacre, explained his role and introduced himself, explaining he had conducted over 40 murder trials and previously acted for a large number of people facing allegations of sexual misconduct. I look forward to coming to the island in the near future and meeting with the community. He signed off. There was another enormous wait. The islanders, the victims, didn't know which cases would or wouldn't be brought forward. Simon Moore had the right to bring prosecutions, and he decided that he would. But did any of the cases have the evidence needed to convince a court to convict? Work on possible trials began. But would the victims, Would Glenda see justice served?
G
He says this is what it would be like. He didn't hold back, let's put it that way. And I took offense to it because I thought he's getting angry at me. Why is he getting this was going through my brain. Why is he getting angry with me? And he really was angry.
F
That's next time on the Pitcairn Trials. Episode six, White Wigs, Red Dirt. The Pitcairn Trials were an Audio Always production. The series was presented by me, Luke Jones, produced by Lucy Ditchment, our assistant producer was Mansi Vithlani, sound design by Craig Edmondson and the executive producer is Joe Meek. If you've been affected by anything in this story and would like to speak to somebody, there is a list and links to organisations that can offer help and advice on our show page.
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health and get you set up on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile. Unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
E
If you sold somebody a loaded gun who you knew was in a vulnerable state and they shot themselves, I think it is murder.
F
Just because you're using the Internet doesn't mean you get away with murder.
D
I'm Damon Fairless, host of Hunting Warhead. This season I take you inside the business of suicide and the places desperate people go when they can't find what they need in the real world. Hunting the Suicide Salesman available now wherever you get your podcasts.
A
Want more true crime? This podcast and loads more are part of the Always True Crime network. It's packed with box sets to binge and twisted tales you won't find anywhere else. Find your next podcast obsession@always truecrime.com.
This episode examines the extraordinary legal, diplomatic, and moral dilemma faced by British officials confronted with allegations of widespread child sexual abuse on the remote, minuscule settlement of Pitcairn Island. As explosive accusations unravel a community shrouded in secrecy, diplomatic cables between New Zealand, London, and island officials capture the intensity and complexity of deciding whether—and how—to deliver justice without destroying the fabric of an entire, unique community.
The episode balances calm, empathic narration with the forthright, sometimes blunt language of participants. The passion and frustration—especially among victims and advocates—shine through, contrasted against the measured, bureaucratic vocabulary of officials and the callousness of perpetrators.
This episode lays bare the agonizing complexity of seeking justice within an isolated, tightly bound society dependent on every member’s contribution, where most are related and accusations cut deep. The debate between seeking justice, preserving a community, and confronting longstanding denial and dysfunction is handled with nuance but also with the urgency and inevitability the situation demands. As bureaucratic deliberation gives way to decisive action, the question remains: will justice, finally, be possible on Pitcairn?
Next episode: The trial process begins—can justice be delivered?