Inquiry launched into Beatle's attacker

Olivia and George Harrison: Survived a ferocious attack

An independent inquiry will be held to examine the medical history of a mentally ill man who almost killed the former Beatle George Harrison.

It followed criticism of doctors at a Liverpool hospital who allegedly mistook Michael Abram's mental illness for drug addiction.

Abram, 34, was cleared of the attempted murder of Harrison and his wife Olivia at their home in Henley-on Thames.

He stabbed Mr Harrison 10 times in a frenzied attack on December 30 last year.

At Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday, Abram was acquitted on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of his insanity.

'Without time restriction'

However, the judge Mr Justice Astill ordered him to be sent to hospital "without time restriction".

The inquiry will focus on the treatment Abram received from his local health authority. It will be conducted by the St Helens and Knowsley NHS Health Authority on Merseyside.

Lynda Abram: "He was a very ill man"

In a statement Dr Martin Murphy, acting chief executive of St Helens and Knowsley NHS Health Authority, said: "In view of the serious nature of the incident and the possibility that further lessons could be learned, the health authority has instigated an external health inquiry into the case.

"This is a regular feature of good practice to ensure that all measures are taken to prevent a similar incident in the future."

Abram was first admitted to Whiston Hospital in Merseyside in March 1990 and was diagnosed as psychotic with paranoid delusions.

Heroin addict

Over the next nine years his condition deteriorated when he became a heroin addict and he was regularly readmitted.

In a letter read out by his solicitor following the trial, Abram apologised to the Harrison family, but blamed doctors for misdiagnosing his mental illness.

Michael Abram: Said he was continually misdiagnosed

"I have seen many doctors prior to the attack and I was never told that I was suffering with schizophrenia or any mental illness," he said.

Abram's family has claimed the Whiston Hospital repeatedly refused to section him under the Mental Health Act.

His mother Lynda Abram said: "If they had listened to me and listened to Michael this would never have happened."

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Jenny McCarthy told the jury that Abram's schizophrenia had been misdiagnosed over several years.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, also criticised the behaviour of doctors.

"It is a tragedy that someone as seriously disturbed as Michael Abram was left so often alone to cope with his delusions," she said.

Oxford Crown Court heard Mr Abram was a paranoid schizophrenic, who thought Harrison had possessed him and that all the Beatles were witches.

He attacked Mr Harrison and his wife believing he was possessed by the former Beatle and was on a mission from God.