Asia-Pacific News
Pitcairn rapist dies during mercy trip
May 22, 2011, 10:18 GMT
Wellington - A 53-year-old man who was one of six Pitcairn Islanders convicted of rape on the remote Pacific island in 2004 died during a medical evacuation after falling ill, according to news reports on Sunday.
Terry Young, who had recently been paroled from the island's prison, was being taken to Mangareva, nearly 500 kilometres from Pitcairn, by a yacht that responded to an emergency alert from the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Tahiti, French Polynesia, on Saturday.
Radio New Zealand said Young, who had developed intense stomach pains thought to be appendicitis, had died of a suspected heart attack.
Chris Harrington, spokesman for the British High Commissioner in Wellington who is also governor of Pitcairn, said the island has no airstrip and medical evacuation was only possible by sea.
He said Young had recently been paroled after completing his five-year prison sentence.
Read more about Pitcairn Accidents
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