Briton Accused of Threatening Former Beatle : Crime: Man arrested after postmarks on letters to George Harrison are traced to South London.

LONDON — A man who allegedly sent threatening letters to George Harrison was arrested today, police said.

The 47-year-old ex-Beatle received the letters at his mansion in Friar Park near Henley, 35 miles west of central London, where he lives with his wife and son.

The Daily Mirror reported that Harrison has been haunted by fear of an assassin’s bullet ever since another former Beatle, John Lennon, was slain in 1980. Harrison is constantly accompanied by a bodyguard, the paper said.

Thames Valley police swooped down on a South London address to detain the man after an examination of the letters’ postmarks found they were all sent from that area, a police spokesman said.

“We have traced the person who sent the letters. Papers will be submitted for consideration for prosecution,” said a police spokesman, who was not identified in keeping with British custom.

The newspaper reported that Harrison had received five anonymous handwritten letters in recent weeks threatening death.

The tabloid said one of the letters stated, “Time you went,” and another said, “Goodbye, George.”

Lennon was slain outside his Manhattan apartment by a deranged gunman Dec. 8, 1980. The rock music group broke up in 1970 after eight years of success.