Michael "Mad Mick" Abram (born 1966), attempted to kill George Harrison on December 30, 1999. Abram broke a window of George and Olivia Harrisons' Friar Park home in Henley-on-Thames and began loudly calling to Harrison to come downstairs, waking the couple. Harrison left their bedroom to investigate as Abram continued to call for him. Having telephoned the police, Olivia Harrison left their bedroom with a fireplace poker to find her husband on their upstairs hallway floor and Abram repeatedly stabbing him with a seven-inch kitchen knife. She struck Abram on the head a total of fifteen times with the poker until he finally turned on her and knocked her over. Olivia lost the poker, recovered, and retreated to the bedroom where Abram followed her. Although stabbed, Harrison was able to get up and go to his wife’s aid. Facing Abram, Olivia picked up a large Tiffany lamp and began to hit him over the head again. He took the cord of the lamp and turned on Olivia in an attempt to strangle her with it. She fled downstairs in search of their larger, heavier fireplace poker as Abram then began to hit Harrison over the head with the lamp. Harrison, fatiguing at this point, could only put up his feet in an attempt to stop Abram's blows. Abram then left the bedroom and staggered downstairs to find Olivia, but finally collapsed on their balcony, remaining there until the police arrived. The attack had lasted approximately fifteen minutes. Abram would later receive twenty-two stitches in his head. Harrison suffered a punctured lung, seven stab wounds, and head injuries.^[1]

Abram had a long history of mental illness, and apparently believed all recorded music lyrics literally. He wore a Walkman everywhere, playing music to drown out the voices in his head. His mother was trying to get him psychiatric treatment due to a diagnosis for heroin induced drug psychosis. His mother blamed the attack on an inability to get him that treatment in time. She said "[The British National Health Service] is totally and completely useless. If they had listened to me and [Abram's father] over the last six months this would have never happened."

Abram was later found to be insane, and was sentenced to be detained at a secure hospital. He was freed in 2002 after responding well to treatment.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America, pp 277-278, Eric Idle, Harper Entertainment, 2005, ISBN 0-06-075864-3. (Idle was a close friend of Harrison; this autobiography includes a rare, detailed description of the attack as described by Harrison to Idle.)
2. ^ "Freed Beatle's attacker sorry." 5 July 2002. BBC News. Accessed Mar. 29, 2009.

• Fetherling, George (2001). A Biographical Dictionary of the World's Assassins. Random House Canada. pp. 19-20. ISBN 0-679-31051-7. 

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