December 31, 1999
Web posted at: 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

LONDON (CNN) -- A British court ordered a 33-year-old man held in a psychiatric unit Friday after he was charged with the attempted murder of former Beatle George Harrison, who was attacked by a knife-wielding intruder early Thursday morning at his Gothic Oxfordshire mansion.

Magistrates in the south England town of Oxford said Michael Abram, who was said to be obsessed with hatred for the Beatles, should be detained at a secure psychiatric unit in his home city of Liverpool, under section three of Britain's Mental Health Act. Abram was charged overnight with the attempted murder of Harrison and his wife, Olivia.

Abram, a father of two, appeared in court with a black eye and bloodstained face. His next court date was scheduled for February 11.

In an interview published Thursday in Liverpool's Echo newspaper, the suspect's mother, Lynda Abrams, said her son had recently become obsessed with hatred of The Beatles as he tried to overcome a drug addiction. She said he had never been violent.

"He has been running in pubs shouting about The Beatles," she was quoted as saying. "He hates them and even believes they are witches and takes their lyrics seriously. He started to wear a Walkman to play music to stop the voices in his head."

The Echo quoted her as saying that her son had been in a local psychiatric unit for problems stemming from an addiction to heroin, and she accused authorities of failing to offer him enough aid.

"The last six months, he has been really bad. I have been looking for help for him, but it is like walking into a brick wall," she said. "The system is totally and completely useless. If they had listened to me and listened to Michael over the last six months, this would never have happened."

Harrison

Police said Harrison, 56, suffered superficial injuries and a 1-inch stab wound that penetrated his chest wall in the attack, during which he and his wife struggled with, then overpowered the intruder in their 120-room Friar Park estate, holding him until police arrived.

According to news reports, Olivia, who suffered only superficial injuries and bruises, may have saved her husband's life when she stunned the intruder by hitting him on the head with a lamp after the struggle through three rooms of the couple's home.

Harrison was initially transported to Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, near his home, then later sent to the Royal Harefield Hospital, which specializes in chest and thoraxic treatment. Doctors there said the knife blade just missed his superior vena cava, a vein that drains blood from the head, upper body and arms. Mrs. Harrison was not hospitalized.

Harrison is expected to make a full recovery, and may be able to go home in the next couple of days, officials said, although he is still in considerable pain.

The Harrisons' home in Henley on Thames

The Harrisons have lived at their palatial estate, known as Friar Park, a former nunnery close to the center of historic Henley, for more than 20 years.

It remained unclear how the intruder managed to enter the house. Security at the walled estate is tight, including 10-foot-high barbed wire fences, 24-hour surveillance and guard dogs on patrol. Electronically controlled gates were installed in recent years after Harrison received death threats.

The two other surviving Beatles, who lost founding member John Lennon 19 years ago when he was shot to death by a stalker in New York City on December 8, 1980, expressed shock at the attack.

Paul McCartney's spokesman, Paul Fruendlich, told CNN, "Everyone is deeply shocked but relieved and thankful that George and Olivia are OK."

Fruendlich said McCartney had told him, "Thank God both George and Olivia are all right. I send them all my love. I have no further comment."

In a statement from Ringo Starr, released to CNN through his spokeswoman Elizabeth Freund, the drummer said he and his wife, Barbara Bach, "are deeply shocked that this incident occurred. We send George and Olivia all our love and wish George a speedy recovery."

In 1998, Harrison disclosed that he had been battling throat cancer for more than a year and had surgery to remove a lump in his neck. He later had radiation therapy, which he said made him think about the fragility of life.

"It reminds you that anything can happen ... that's the nature of life," he told the tabloid News of the World.

Earlier that year, the three surviving Beatles -- Harrison, Starr and McCartney -- were reunited publicly for the first time in years at a London memorial service for McCartney's wife, Linda, who died of breast cancer.