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THE TRIAL, DAY 1:
Tuesday, November 14 2000

Venue:	Oxford Crown Coutr (trial by jury)
Presiding judge:	Justice Astill
Defendant:	Michael Abram
Defending lawyer:	Tim King
Prosecuting lawyer:	Simon Mayo
Present at trial:	Olivia Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Michael Abram ("the attacker")

The attacker, age 34 and father of two, pleads not guilty by reason of insanity to two charges of attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, unlawful wounding and aggravated burglary. Mr. Mayo said that the issue is not whether his client is the attacker, but whether he was sane at the time of the attack.

Mr. Mayo said about the attacker: "He thought he had been sent on a mission by God to kill George Harrison. The experts concluded that undoubtedly Abram intended to kill Mr. Harrison, but he didn't realize that to do so was wrong because of his deluded belief about being possessed by Mr. Harrison." The attacker had visited Oxfordshire on several occasions to familiarize himself with the area and find out where George lived.

Olivia testified in person and was cross-examined. George was not present but submitted a written statement which was read aloud in court.

In his written statement, George said that the attacker was screaming and hysterical; that he had to do something because his wife and mother-in-law were in danger; that the attacker wielded a knife and a pole, and yelled, "You get down here! You know what it is!"; that George shouted back "Hare Krishna" repeatedly as the attacker lunged toward him; that he could feel his strength draining from him, blood rising in his mouth, hear breath exiting the chest wound, and that he believed he had been "fatally stabbed."

It was revealed during the jury trial that George suffered no less than 10 stab wounds, two of which went clean through an arm and a leg.

Olivia choked back tears as she described blood on the wall and carpet. She "realized that we were going to be murdered." Olivia also testified that, though she didn't want to, she hit the attacker with a table lamp and begged him to stop the attack.

The attacker spoke only once to answer his name.

The attacker told paramedics that he wished he had finished off George.

THE TRIAL, DAY 2:
Wednesday, November 15 2000

After one hour and two minutes of deliberation, and upon the direction of Judge Michael Astill, a jury of six men and six women find the attacker innocent by reason of insanity of two counts of attempted murder. The attacker is ordered to be confined indefinitely to a mental hospital. Wearing a pinstriped suit and glasses, the attacker showed no emotion throughout this second, and last, day of trial. Yesterday, the horrifying details of the attack on George and Olivia were revealed in court. Today, three psychiatrists testify as to the attacker's mental condition, which is described as a ‘complex delusional system.' Dr Jenny McCarthy testifies that the attacker had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia for many years but that he had never been diagnosed properly. Reasons for the attacker's mental deterioration varied: a solar eclipse in August 1999; the delusion that his ex-girlfriend had stolen £80,000 from a drug dealer; the delusion that messages were being sent to him through song lyrics, particularly the line ‘It's gonna take money' from George's ‘Got My Mind Set On You.' The attacker believed he was possessed by George, whom he referred to as the ‘phantom menace' and an ‘alien from hell.' Psychiatrists also testify that the attacker was convinced he was ‘the fifth Beatle' and that he had been sent on a mission by God to kill George.

Prosecution lawyer Simon Mayo told how, two weeks before the attack, the attacker interrupted a communion service at a church near Friar Park to ask Rev David Buskill, ‘Can you tell me where the squire lives?' At first, Rev Buskill assumed the attacker was referring to God, but then realized he meant George. According to Mr Mayo, Rev Buskill told the attacker that George lived up the hill in a large house.

The judge denied the Harrison family's request to be informed if the attacker is ever considered for release. (For updates on this, please see Chronicle.)

LATER THAT SAME DAY . . . .

After the verdict, the attacker's solicitor, Peter Edwards, read a letter of apology, addressed to the Crown Prosecution Service, from the attacker to the Harrisons.

After the trial, Dhani gives a statement on behalf of the family. While acknowledging the tragedy of mental illness, Dhani said: ‘We shall never forget that he was full of hatred and violence when he came into our home. We recognise that the jury were given no real choice in this matter and that the ancient law of the Lunatics Act provides a loophole.' The reference was to legislation that allows a jury to find a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, as the jury in this trial was instructed to do by the judge; that a criminal act was committed but the defendant is insane. Dhani spoke of his family's fear should the attacker be released, requested a change in the law that would permit victims to be notified of their attacker's release, and requested that Jack Straw see to it that the Harrisons are notified should the attacker be released. The statement ended: ‘We will now continue rebuilding our lives and hope that the growing violence in society is controlled and ultimately replaced by the goodness of most people in the world.'

See Henley Heroics for additional details.

Bibliography | Biography | Chronicle | Discography | FAQ | Tour Dates & Venues Henley Heroics | Old Wine in New Bottles | The Trial