![When Arthur Bently Worthington embarked upon his return voyage to Christchurch from Tasmania in 1897, he must have been aware that his arrival there was unlikely to be accompanied by the same degree of fanfare and enthusiasm that greeted him when he first set foot in the city, in 1890. In December 1895 the ‘tall and handsome’ American with ‘steel-blue greyish and expressive eyes’, whose real name was Oakley Crawford, had suddenly departed Christchurch, having spent the previous five years in residence there building up and ministering to his flock of acolytes, the ‘Students of Truth’, converts to his new religion. In reality, the charming Worthington was a notorious confidence trickster, having previously travelled the length and breadth of the United States bigamously marrying and swiftly defrauding the many wealthy women who crossed his path – abandoning them, and any children that he may have fathered along the way. His liaison with Mary Plunkett, the ‘wife’ who accompanied him to New Zealand in 1890, was the first to diverge from this pattern. Worthington met Mary, the editor of a Christian Science journal and wife of a notable businessman, in New York in 1889, whilst posing as a faith-healer for the sect, and quickly won her over. It wasn’t long before the two, accompanied by her two children, fled America, as Mary’s former husband had begun to unravel Worthington’s shameful and shocking past. In Mary, Worthington had found a woman whose charisma and beauty perfectly complemented his own, and hoards of Christchurch residents soon fell prey to their peculiar brand of proselytisation. Many in Christchurch willingly parted with their cash, and in some cases even mortgaged their homes, to further the religion, and to furnish the couple’s lifestyle. This extended even to the erection of a magnificent columned edifice, the Temple of Truth, in Latimer Square in 1892 (and the lavish private residence attached to it for the couple), within which Worthington preached his self-styled revivalist ‘rational form of Christianity’ to large congregations several times a week, and his insights into reincarnation and sexology for a smaller, more select audience. It was the latter that provoked an outcry – the Methodists first, and then the other denominations expressed their moral outrage at Worthington’s doctrine of free love, and as details of his sordid past started to emerge, and whispers grew about the sexual ‘goings on’ within the group, things began to heat up for him. Creditors were soon seeking financial reparation in the courts from Worthington for bad loans, a schism occurred within the group which culminated in Mary leaving Worthington (historian Geoffrey Rice in Christchurch Crimes and Scandals 1876-99 speculates that this was likely on account of Worthington’s sexual promiscuity - he quickly moved on and ‘wed’ a young parishioner, however), and New Zealand authorities moved to have him extradited by the United States. No wonder then that he fled for Australia at the close of 1895. What is more surprising is his decision to return in 1897 – presumably to have ‘another crack’ at the citizenry of Christchurch via a series of lectures at the Oddfellows’ Hall in September. During his third lecture, on 26 September, an angry crowd thought to number 6000 amassed in the street outside the building; the police found themselves unable to placate the mob and felt that they needed to read the Riot Act – doing so for the first time in Christchurch’s history. In 1899, Worthington finally made a permanent departure from New Zealand – though the events in Christchurch didn’t deter him from continuing his life of crime, and he died in prison in New York in 1917. Entries in the Police Communications Book, such as those pictured, record the frantic attempts of the police to prepare for and contain the anger on the streets of Christchurch. Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office holds a wealth of historical material relating to the Canterbury and Westland areas, and this book can be viewed in person in our Christchurch Reading Room. Archives New Zealand/Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Christchurch Regional Office [Archives Reference: CH439/26].](/assets/images/2026-08-02T14-38-51-238Z-sri-lanka-deploys-troops-to-contain-riot-at-overcrowded-mahara-prison-wikimedia-1280.webp)
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Sri Lanka deployed hundreds of troops and elite commandos on Sunday, August 2, 2026, to contain riots at Mahara Prison, an overcrowded facility just outside the capital Colombo. Police reported that an inmate was killed and six others wounded during the unrest.
Deputy police inspector-general Sanjeewa Medawatte said the situation was under control after inmates destroyed multiple buildings on August 1, including the kitchen, hospital, a newly built rehabilitation building, and vocational training facilities. "We got reinforcements from the armed forces and the Special Task Force commandos to restore order and send the inmates back to their cells," Medawatte told reporters outside the prison.
Mahara Prison currently houses about 4,100 inmates, roughly four times its intended capacity, reflecting a widespread issue of overcrowding in Sri Lanka's jails. The recent riot follows a similar incident nearly a month earlier in the same region, where 10 guards and 21 inmates were killed. In November 2020, another riot at the facility resulted in 11 inmates being shot dead and nearly 120 others wounded.
In response to ongoing overcrowding, authorities announced plans in July 2026 to convert disused state buildings into prisons.
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