HARRISON ATTACKER ACQUITTED

On Wednesday (11/15), the Oxford Crown Court in Oxford, England, ordered Michael Abram to a mental institution "without time restrictions," making his release pending on a mental health review. In addition, the court denied the Harrisons' request to be notified if Abram were to be released.

Abram had admitted to attacking the former Beatle and his wife, Olivia, with a knife and a table lamp at their Henley-on-Thames home on Dec. 30, 1999. Harrison's lung was punctured in the assault, while his wife suffered various injuries.

Abram claimed he was on a "mission from God" and "possessed" by Harrison at the time of the attack and that the Beatles "were flying around on broomsticks and possessing people." Psychiatrists testified that Abram had a history of mental illness and was seeking treatment in the weeks leading up to the incident.

While Harrison did not appear in court, he testified via statement, his experience. Harrison said: "I vividly remember a deliberate thrust of the knife toward my chest. I felt my chest deflate and the flow of blood toward my mouth. I believed I had been fatally stabbed."

His wife, Olivia, did appear in court. She told the jury: "There was blood on the walls, blood on my hands and I realized that we were going to be murdered and this man was succeeding in murdering us and there was absolutely nobody else there to help."

Abram's doctors said that while he is responding well to medications, he would be a risk to society if released.

Standing by his mother's side in court, the Harrisons' son Dhani said, "The prospect of him being released back into society is abhorrent to us."