Ex-Beatle on Mend; Attack Suspect in Psychiatric Unit

LONDON —  As George Harrison recovered from a knife wound to his chest, the man accused of stabbing the former Beatle was sent to a psychiatric unit Friday for immediate treatment.

Michael Abram was charged with the attempted murder early Thursday of the reclusive guitarist and his wife of 21 years, Olivia. Abram appeared briefly at Oxford Magistrates Court before being sent to a medium-security psychiatric unit at the Scott Clinic outside Liverpool, in northern England.

“This is an exceptional course of action, but we feel you need treatment immediately,” Magistrate Tim Pocock told Abram, 33, who appeared in court heavily bruised and with a black left eye. His next court appearance was set for Feb. 11.

Abram is accused of breaking a window and entering the Harrisons’ 120-room mansion in Henley on Thames, 25 miles west of London. Authorities said that he attacked the couple but that Harrison and his wife managed to overpower him and hold him until police arrived.

The inch-deep stab wound Harrison suffered collapsed his right lung. Harrison’s wife was scratched and bruised in the incident, which rekindled memories of the murder of fellow Beatle John Lennon. Lennon was shot to death by a deranged fan 19 years ago in New York City.

Harrison remained hospitalized for a second night in stable condition in west London’s Harefield Hospital. His wife was at his bedside.

Harrison is likely to make a full recovery and return home in the next couple of days, said Robert Craig, the hospital’s general manager.

“He is in quite good spirits, but he is very tired,” Craig said. “It is a fairly painful condition that he is in, and he will remain on painkillers until he doesn’t need them anymore.”

Police have offered no motive for the attack on the musician, and Abram’s 45-minute court appearance offered no possible illumination. He spoke only to confirm his name and age.

Abram’s mother, Lynda, was quoted in Thursday’s Liverpool Echo newspaper as saying her son has a history of mental problems and “had recently become obsessed” with the Beatles.

She told the newspaper that her son--the father of two children, ages 16 and 10--had been in a local psychiatric unit for problems stemming from an addiction to heroin. She blamed authorities for failing to give him enough help.