that British law had not been ratified on Pitcairn. "We are arguing whether the English legal system applies to these people. That is it in a nutshell," defence lawyer Allan Roberts said. The Pitcairn Court of Appeal dismissed this claim. Randall Christian's appeal against conviction of indecent assault of a girl aged under 13 was upheld, but that decision did not affect his sentence of six years on other charges. The men appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The Privy Council terminated the appeal abruptly in July 2006, saying that the argument that Pitcairn has always been self-governing was unrealistic. The final appeals for all six men failed on 30 October 2006. Defendants The defendants who lived on the island were: Steven Raymond Christian (Steve Christian) (born January 1951), mayor since 1999. He was charged with a total of six rapes and four indecent assaults committed between 1964 and 1975. He pleaded not guilty to all charges of rape and sexual abuse. He admitted to two sexual encounters with underage females, which he said were consensual. Christian was convicted of five rapes, and cleared of four indecent assaults and one rape. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Still protesting his innocence and refusing to resign, he was dismissed from office on 30 October 2004 by the Governor, Richard Fell. Randy Christian (born March 1974) son of Steve Christian, was Chairman of the powerful Internal Committee, which effectively made him his father's deputy. He faced five charges of rape and seven of indecent assault against four women between 1988 and 1999. He was also accused of targeting one girl from the age of five or seven, abusing her repeatedly over the next decade. He admitted to having under-age sex with a girl of 11 or 12. He was convicted of four rapes (against the same girl from the age of 10) and five indecent assault charges, but cleared of one rape and two indecent assaults. His six-year prison sentence was the most severe ever handed down on Pitcairn. Governor Fell dismissed him from the chairmanship of the Internal Committee on 30 October 2004, following his refusal to resign. Len Carlyle Brown (born March 1926) Steve Christian's father-in-law, was convicted of two rapes. Through his lawyer, Allan Roberts, Brown refused to apologize. To do so would be "fraudulent," Roberts said. He was sentenced to two years