Report: John Lennon was a cheating and drug-abusing husband

October 4, 2005. Yoko Ono, the wife of the late singer John Lennon, listens to reporters questions in front of a portrait of Lennon and herself at a news conference in Tokyo. (Reuters)

A long-ago legal document has surfaced in the UK that is highly critical of John Lennon, reports The New York Daily News.

The claims were made in a five-page document penned by lawyers in 1968 representing Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia.

According to the Times of London the statement was taken from the Lennons’ housekeeper Dorothy Jarlett who passed away last year. The letter was found among her possessions and is now up for auction.

In the document Jarlett says she found Lennon in bed with Yoko Ono while his wife Cynthia was out of the country. She also claims that Lennon would smack his son Julian if he misbehaved.

Mrs. Jarlett wrote: "Until about the summer (of) 1967 I thought the house was reasonably happy … from about a year ago, Mr. Lennon did not seem as keen as before to take Mrs. Lennon out with him to various functions, studio recordings etc."

The letter went on to describe how the "atmosphere seemed to change and there seemed more tension. Mrs. Lennon was often depressed and unhappy."

She also claimed that the Beatle left pot lying around the house.

"This was some months after the time Mr. Lennon started taking drugs, I knew of this, because I began noticing drugs lying around in various parts of the house. It was quite clear to me that Mr. Lennon was smoking pot, and we all hoped that it was a phase."

The Lennons were married in 1962 and divorced in 1968. The letter is expected to fetch almost $10,000 at auction.