'Shoplifting Lennon had Catholic tastes'

Beatles legend John Lennon used to steal from a Roman Catholic bookshop for thrills, a former friend has revealed.

Richard Tate, who attended the Liverpool College of Art with Lennon, said the future icon regularly took items from the city centre shop.

He told the Liverpool Echo in England: “He used to go in there and nick things. It was almost as if he wanted to get struck down by a thunderbolt.

“He could have gone into Woolworth’s, but no. He had to go into this particular shop.

“One of the things I remember him taking was a book on Pope Pius XII. The devilment was always there, and it could be quite frightening.”

The shop was on Manchester Street in Liverpool city centre, close to the entrance to the Mersey tunnel. It has since been demolished.

Mr Tate, an actor, added that Lennon’s “deliberately abrasive” behaviour often made him the centre of attention.

He said: “There would always be people around him – particularly girls - because he had attitude.”