George Harrison's attacker released on conditional discharge - July 4, 2002
From BeatlesWiki
| Event | |
| Date | July 4, 2002 |
| Short description | A man who broke into George Harrison's home and threatened to attack him in 1999 is released on conditional discharge. |
| Location | |
The Mersey Care National Health Service Trust, which oversees the Scott Clinic in Rainhill, Merseyside, released a statement saying that a man who broke into George Harrison's house and threatened to attack him in 1999 has "been given a conditional discharge today by a mental health review tribunal." The man, who has schizophrenia, was being given injections every two weeks by the Scott Clinic to help control his illness. Even though the deatils of his release were to "remain confidential" to "ensure the safety of the public," both Olivia Harrison and Dhani Harrison found out from people other than officials that he was being released. In a BBC interview given to Olivia and Dhani, they said that "We can never forget how brutally close [he] came to killing dear George and myself, nor the trauma inflicted on our son and family." They claimed that the attack had robbed Harrison of strength, as he was dying at the time. Because of his relase, it was announced by Hello! magazine on July 9 that Olivia Harrison planned to sell Friar Park, the mansion George had been attacked in. This 120-room Oxfordshire mansion was purchased by George Harrison on January 14, 1970. Olivia decided to sell the twenty million pound property mainly because of Harrison's attacker's release back into the community. A family friend said, "[His] release just reinforces her decision to sell. Olivia and Dhani didn’t want to hold on to a property that, among some very good memories, also held some pretty dreadful ones."
