1868: Jailbreak

July 3, 2020

By AHNZ

Jail Break, 1868.

Today in New Zealand history,  July 3¹, 1868, Te Kooti captured his captors and seized control of the schooner Rifleman. The crew of convicts manage to escape their island prison of the Chatham Islands.

Heartbeats
They were racing
Freedom
He was chasin’
Spotlights
Sirens
Rifles firing
But he made it out

– Jailbreak, ACDC

Te Kooti leads 200 (or 300) convicts back to the mainland where the ex-cons engaged in what the movie advertisements refer to as a Roaring Rampage of Revenge².

Unlike the movie ‘Con Air’, there was no Nicolas Cage to thwart the terrorist organisation before it could establish itself. The Te Kooti gang goes on to terrorise, slaughtering hundreds. Eventually he serves a token amount of 2 days in jail before going free.

—

1 Or 4th July. Sources differ

2 Also known as, the Poverty Bay Massacre (or Matawhero Massacre.)

Ref. Also 1889: Te Kooti- Sainted Old Santa?

Ref. 1868: The Poverty Bay Massacre

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