McCartney feared he was assassin target

SIR Paul McCartney feared he was the target of assassins days after John Lennon’s murder when gun-wielding soldiers wandered through his garden.

Sir Paul McCartney feared he was the target of assassins.

SIR Paul McCartney has revealed he feared he was the target of assassins days after John Lennon’s murder when gun-wielding soldiers mistakenly wandered through his garden.

The Beatles legend was on “high alert” after crazed Mark Chapman gunned down Lennon in New York in 1980. McCartney says many of his show business pals dramatically increased their security detail following the murder.

McCartney’s home in rural south England was, however, still largely unprotected and he has revealed that just days after the killing he spotted several armed men in combat fatigues advancing on his property.

“It was weird because in the days that followed it, I was sitting in the house. We had a little perimeter fence, mainly to keep foxes out, because we had some chickens. I’m aware of security threats, so I’m on high alert and I look out and I see someone with a f***ing gun, like a machine gun, an assault rifle,” McCartney told Uncut magazine.

“He’s in full military gear, and then I see there’s a whole patrol of them. I’m going, ‘Holy shit, what’s going on?’ “I don’t know what I did. I think I rang the police. It turned out to be army manoeuvres,” McCartney recalled.

McCartney said he doesn’t know how he lived through the ordeal. “You think you’d just faint dead on the ground ...” he said.

Originally published as McCartney feared he was assassin target