The Pitcairn Trials

The Pitcairn Trials

Kick Off 2025! Enjoy an Extended 30-Day Free Trial

£5.99/mo or £44.99/yr after trial

Halfway between South America and New Zealand is a small piece of volcanic, British territory; Pitcairn. It has one shop open for a few hours a day, it’s accessible only by boat, it was born out of Naval mutiny in the 18th Century, it’s home to 37 British subjects...and an almighty scandal. If you're interested in sponsorship and advertising in The Pitcairn Trials, then we'd love to hear from you. Just email [email protected] and we'll tell you more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. EPISODE 1

    Paradise, Lost

    In Kent, UK, Police Officer Peter George is asked to investigate an alleged serious crime: the rape of a child. The crime is not in England but on the remote Pacific Island of Pitcairn, and what Peter and his colleague find is a complicated story. They decide that modern British law and policing must be taken to this worryingly lawless Island, but how to implement an entire legal system on a remote Pacific island? And what are the secrets that are hidden in plain sight? Follow The Pitcairn Trials on the Wondery App. This is episode 1 of The Pitcairn Trials. To listen to more episodes join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://www.wondery.com/links/the-pitcairn-trials Episodes will be available for free wherever you get your podcasts in January. Episodes 1-3 from 9 Jan Episodes 4-5 from 16 Jan Episodes 6-7 from 23 Jan Episode 8 from 30 Jan There are organisations around the world that work to prevent the abuse of children and support survivors. In the UK: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/  https://thesurvivorstrust.org/  In the US: https://www.childhelphotline.org/  https://preventchildabuse.org/about-us/  In Australia: https://www.napcan.org.au/ In New Zealand: https://indigohouse.co.nz/ https://www.capf.org.nz/ https://www.familyaction.org.nz/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 min
  2. EPISODE 2

    Up the Hill of Difficulty

    Kent WPC Gail Cox is chosen as the woman to bring law to Pitcairn. She sets off to Pitcairn to teach the locals how to Police themselves. At a drunken Pitcairn party, one evening, another girl makes an allegation of rape. Detective Peter George returns to Pitcairn and a distressing and astonishing picture begins to emerge of child sexual abuse on an unimaginable scale. Listen to episodes of The Pitcairn Trials exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://www.wondery.com/links/the-pitcairn-trials  Episodes will be available for free wherever you get your podcasts in January. Episodes 1-3 from 9 Jan Episodes 4-5 from 16 Jan Episodes 6-7 from 23 Jan Episode 8 from 30 Jan There are organisations around the world that work to prevent the abuse of children and support survivors. In the UK: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/  https://thesurvivorstrust.org/  In the US: https://www.childhelphotline.org/  https://preventchildabuse.org/about-us/  In Australia: https://www.napcan.org.au/ In New Zealand: https://indigohouse.co.nz/ https://www.capf.org.nz/ https://www.familyaction.org.nz/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    33 min
  3. EPISODE 3

    Have you Ever Wanted to Disappear?

    What is the history of the Island of Pitcairn, its myths and realities? Born from the 1789 Mutiny, the mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian stumble across Pitcairn. Handily wrongly located on maps, this is their opportunity to escape the British Navy and disappear, today all Pitcairn families are descended from the mutineers and their Tahitian ‘wives’. But they were not a contented community, marked by violence and death, which are marked on the Island in place names. Abuse survivor Glenda, now living in the UK, paints a vivid picture of life on the Island, eating breadfruit, swimming, the unique language, the red volcanic dirt. But her memories are not all full of sunshine… Listen to episodes of The Pitcairn Trials exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, or Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://www.wondery.com/links/the-pitcairn-trials. Episodes will be available for free wherever you get your podcasts in January. Episodes 1-3 from 9 Jan Episodes 4-5 from 16 Jan Episodes 6-7 from 23 Jan Episode 8 from 30 Jan There are organisations around the world that work to prevent the abuse of children and support survivors. In the UK: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/  https://thesurvivorstrust.org/  In the US: https://www.childhelphotline.org/  https://preventchildabuse.org/about-us/  In Australia: https://www.napcan.org.au/ In New Zealand: https://indigohouse.co.nz/ https://www.capf.org.nz/ https://www.familyaction.org.nz/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min
  4. EPISODE 4 • WONDERY+ ONLY

    Glenda, A Survivor’s Story

    Luke Jones meets Glenda at her home, in the UK.   Glenda grew up on Pitcairn but now lives in the UK. She was abused growing up but told no one, until she was contacted by Kent Police during Operation Unique. This is the first time Glenda has recorded her story and it is very emotional.  Glenda is supported in the room by her therapist and friend Sandy.  And what about justice for the victims and survivors? Some fear the risks to the Island are too great to take this to trial. Politicians and lawyers around the world fiercely debate whether there is a case to answer. Listen to episodes of The Pitcairn Trials exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, or Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://www.wondery.com/links/the-pitcairn-trials. There are organisations around the world that work to prevent the abuse of children and support survivors. In the UK: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/  https://thesurvivorstrust.org/  In the US: https://www.childhelphotline.org/  https://preventchildabuse.org/about-us/  In Australia: https://www.napcan.org.au/ In New Zealand: https://indigohouse.co.nz/ https://www.capf.org.nz/ https://www.familyaction.org.nz/

    34 min
  5. EPISODE 8 • WONDERY+ ONLY

    The Aftermath

    The Guilty men of Pitcairn received remarkably short prison sentences. Some on the island, sent to the luxury jail they helped to build. Some received community service, with time off to help with the island’s harvest and work. In the end the Pitcairn Trials cost £47 million, paid by the British taxpayer and government. By 2009 all the convicted men had been released. But the problem did not vanish in the years since. We examine what the future holds for Pitcairn. Can Pitcairn escape the shadows of its past? Glenda reflects on the Pitcairn paradox for some survivors, "I loved Pitcairn, the place…I didn't love what was done to me there." Listen to episodes of The Pitcairn Trials exclusively and ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, or Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting http://www.wondery.com/links/the-pitcairn-trials. There are organisations around the world that work to prevent the abuse of children and support survivors. In the UK: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/ https://thesurvivorstrust.org/ In the US: https://www.childhelphotline.org/ https://preventchildabuse.org/about-us/ In Australia: https://www.napcan.org.au/ In New Zealand: https://indigohouse.co.nz/ https://www.capf.org.nz/ https://www.familyaction.org.nz/

    40 min

Shows with Subscription Benefits

  • Every day, hundreds of people go about their lives with no idea that someone has paid to have them killed. In the depths of the dark net, tech journalist Carl Miller makes a disturbing discovery: a secret “kill list” targeting hundreds of innocent people on a murder-for-hire website. When the police are slow to investigate, Carl is thrown into a race against time to warn those in danger and uncover the truth before it’s too late. From Wondery and Novel comes a shocking true story about obsession, control and the price of life and death. Follow the Kill List on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting www.wondery.com/links/kill-list now.

  • Well done. You’ve sorted through the embarrassment of riches that is the modern podcast landscape and found me, Rob Brydon, on my podcast. It’s terrific conversation, full of anecdotes and reminiscence where appropriate. Listen to Brydon & on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/brydon/ now.

  • In a country obsessed with gossip, the great and the good fear one thing more than any other - scandal. British scandals change the course of history. They bring down governments, overthrow the rich and cause the mighty to fall. Some are about sex, others about money. In the end, they’re all about power.  But often at the heart of a scandal, there are ordinary human stories. Stories of those caught up in the swirl of outrage.  Who was really to blame for what happened? Why did they do it? And when all is said and done, did anything really change?    From the creators of Business Wars, American Scandal and Ghost Story, comes British Scandal. Each week, hosts Alice Levine and Matt Forde delve into the murkier side of the British elite, from Phone Hacking to Profumo to the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss. Because sometimes the truth doesn’t set everyone free… Listen to British Scandal on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/british-scandal/ now.

  • These are stories you were never meant to hear. The invisible but vital work of the world’s intelligence services: secret operatives playing to very different rules. The Spy Who, hosted by Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey, takes you deep inside that shadow world to meet spies who risked everything in the national interest – or, sometimes, their own. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/the-spy-who now.

  • RedHanded the podcast jumps head first into all manner of macabre madness. We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy. So, join us, plug in, sit back and prepare for scares.

  • From Wondery and Goalhanger Podcasts, Afua Hirsch and Peter Frankopan tell the wild stories of some of the most extraordinary men and women ever to have lived – and ask whether they have the rep they deserve. Should Nina Simone’s role in the civil rights movement be more celebrated than it is? When you find out what Picasso got up to in his studio, can you still admire his art? Was Napoleon a hero or a tyrant - or both? (And, while we’re at it, was he even short?) Legacy is the show that looks at big lives from the perspective of now – and doesn’t always like what it sees. Listen to Legacy on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/legacy now.

Kick Off 2025! Enjoy an Extended 30-Day Free Trial

£5.99/mo or £44.99/yr after trial

4.6
out of 5
45 Ratings

About

Halfway between South America and New Zealand is a small piece of volcanic, British territory; Pitcairn. It has one shop open for a few hours a day, it’s accessible only by boat, it was born out of Naval mutiny in the 18th Century, it’s home to 37 British subjects...and an almighty scandal. If you're interested in sponsorship and advertising in The Pitcairn Trials, then we'd love to hear from you. Just email [email protected] and we'll tell you more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More From Wondery

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.

Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada