The Boys of Bulawayo

A high-profile Australian legal drama. A Family Court Ruling vs. the Rights of Children?

Dr Russel Pridgeon and Patrick O’Dea, having survived the Rhodesian war flee Robert Mugabe’s cruel regime and arrive in Australia hoping for a better life.

Russel launches the Anti-Paedophile Party. He is then asked by Professor Freda Briggs to assist a mother in protecting her twins from sexual abuse. The boys hide them for four years, at Russel’s expense, before the mother is arrested. A few months later, 28 armed police with the media in tow, arrest the boys and claim to have smashed Australia’s largest child smuggling ring. Russel and Patrick face 7 charges carrying a fifty-year sentence, legal aid is denied, and very onerous bail conditions are applied, whilst Russel’s medical license is suspended.

For the next 5,5 years, the boys fought these charges, with strong public support, whilst the AFP hid evidence with the assistance of a complicit magistrate. Helped by a former convict turned legal advisor, the boys take on the legal system and triumph against all odds.