George Harrison, the former guitarist with the Beatles and one of Britain's best-known musicians, was stabbed in a "vicious" knife attack by an intruder at his Oxfordshire home in the early hours of yesterday morning.
An inch-deep wound to the chest caused a minor collapse of the right lung of the musician, who has rarely appeared or performed in public since his fellow Beatle, John Lennon, was shot dead on the street outside his New York apartment by a fan nearly 20 years ago.
Soon after the musician was admitted to Harefield Hospital in west London, police said they did not believe that a 33-year-old man from Liverpool who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Mr Harrison's home was a burglar but had "deliberately" travelled to the area in an attempt to meet him.
Mr Harrison's wife, Olivia, was also slightly injured in the attack which happened at about 3.30 a.m. when the couple were woken in their home, Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames, by the sound of breaking glass.
Officers from Merseyside police later broke into and searched an address in Huyton, Liverpool, in connection with the knife attack. The parents of the man arrested, Mr Michael Abram, said their son had a history of mental health problems related to an addiction to drugs.
Mrs Abram said he had attended a local psychiatric unit but had not taken drugs since May. "The last six months he has been really bad. I have been looking for help for him but it is like walking into a brick wall. I have had no help from anybody," she said.
In an interview with the Liverpool Echo, Mrs Abram said her son had recently become obsessed with the Beatles. "He hates them and even believes they are witches and takes their lyrics seriously. He started to wear a Walkman to play music to stop the voices in his head," she said.
The attack comes eight months after the BBC presenter Ms Jill Dando was murdered on the door step of her west London home and again raises the spectre of celebrity stalkers or fans who are prepared to use extraordinary and sometimes violent means to contact the object of their obsession.
The officer leading the investigation into the attack, Det Chief Insp Euan Read, said the knife used to stab Mr Harrison was six or seven inches long. Mr Harrison and his wife had struggled with the intruder and during the struggle the musician was stabbed and the intruder and Mrs Harrison received minor head injuries.
Surgeons treating Mr Harrison said it was "just by chance" that the stab wounds were not more serious and had narrowly missed a major artery leading to the heart.
Speaking about Mr Harrison's condition, Mr Mark Gritten, chief executive of the Royal Berkshire Hospital where the musician was treated before being transferred to London, said he had not lost his sense of humour. He said: "The quote he gave me was that the man wasn't a burglar and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the Travelling Wilburys", a band formed by Mr Harrison.