Pitcairn Island's last prisoner out of jail

Apr 23, 2009, 0:32 GMT

Wellington - The last prisoner on remote Pitcairn Island - where descendants of the famous mutiny on the Bounty were convicted of historic sex charges - has been released from the jail he helped to build, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Brian Young, 54, received the longest sentence of any of the 10 men convicted on charges of rape, incest and assaults against women and girls, committed over three decades on the British island in the Pacific.

He was sentenced in 2007 to six-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty on six charges of rape and three of indecent assault, some involving girls as young as 7 years old.

He has been released into home detention after serving two years in the prison, which was built by the men living on the island, including those convicted, Wellington's Dominion Post reported, quoting legal sources.

The paper said that human-rights groups had voiced concerns about Young's de facto solitary confinement, after the other prisoners were released from the jail, which may now be converted to a guest house.

Only about 50 people live on Pitcairn, which is halfway between New Zealand and Chile and can only be reached by boat.

Some of the defendants, including Young, were no longer living on the island when they were charged, and a quarter of the remaining adult male residents were among those convicted.

They included descendants of Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny on the British ship HMS Bounty with eight other men in 1789, and established a settlement on the 4.7-square-kilometre island.