A shirt with John Lennon’s blood stained on it sells for over £30,000

It was expected to reach only £7,000 at auction

A shirt with the blood stains of John Lennon on it has sold at auction for £31,000, after it was initially expected to only reach £7,000.

Belonging to concierge Jay Hastings, the white shirt was worn as part of his uniform when he worked at The Dakota building in New York.

Hastings was on duty on December 8, 1980, when John Lennon was shot by Mark Chapman as he and wife Yoko Ono entered the porch of The Dakota to go to their home. Hastings then covered the Beatle with his suit jacket, with some of Lennon’s blood staining into the shirt on its chest and sleeves.

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According to the Daily Mirror, Hastings had planned to keep the shirt. He recently decided to take it to auction, with an expected buy of £7,000. Garry Shrum, of Heritage Auctions, said: “Jay Hastings kept this shirt all these years and never really spoke about it. It has just been sitting in a drawer for years and now he is getting older he felt it was time to sell it.

“There are remnants of blood on the shirt. Some people might be appalled but it’s a piece of history. We did ask ourselves ‘is this too dark or wrong to sell’ but I don’t think it is. He is not exploiting John Lennon’s death. He is telling the story of how he tried to help John Lennon in the last few minutes of his life.”

The auction sale also included a copy of the album Double Fantasy – which includes a handwritten message that reads: “To Jay, Love John Lennon Yoko Ono”. The buyer has remained anonymous.

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