Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004 denied the island's colonial status, and with it the United Kingdom's judicial authority. Defence lawyers for the seven accused men claimed that British sovereignty over the islands was unconstitutional: HMS "Bounty" mutineers, from whom almost all of the current island population is descended (together with Polynesians), had effectively renounced their British citizenship by committing a capital offence in the burning of the "Bounty" in 1790, they said. According to the Public Defender of the Pitcairn Islands Paul Dacre (who was appointed in 2003), islanders still celebrated this act annually by burning an effigy of the "Bounty" in a symbolic rejection
The Bounty (1984 film) in the novel and earlier film versions) was originally intended to be played by Hugh Grant. The replica of the "Bounty" used in the film was built in New Zealand before the script was even completed at a cost of $4 million; the entire film cost $25 million. However, unlike many other films filmed on water, "The Bounty" was finished under budget. As well as the New Zealand–built "Bounty", Lean had also looked at refitting the frigate "Rose" to play the role of "Pandora". The latter has since gone on to become HMS "Surprise" in Peter Weir's "". For the