A PHOTOGRAPH of the late John Lennon and his son on the beach in Bermuda is at the centre of a high-profile civil court case in New York.

Yoko Ono, wife of the former Beatle, claims her former personal assistant Frederic Seaman is a thief who took advantage of his access to her and Mr. Lennon.

At issue are hundreds of pictures of the Lennon family which were taken by Mr. Seaman, including some during their stay in Bermuda during the summer of 1980.

After his visit to the island Mr. Lennon released the Double Fantasy album, which he named after a flower he had seen at the Botanical Gardens.

Just months later, Mr. Lennon was murdered by deranged fan Mark David Chapman.

Ms Ono claims that 374 family photographs shot by Mr. Seaman were taken as part of his job and therefore belonged to her. She hopes to gain possession of the photographs and their copyright.

During the opening day of the trial in federal court in Manhattan this week, Mr. Seaman's lawyer Glenn Wolther said the photographs were his client's property.

He added that Ono's lawsuit was misguided and that the case was really about "image and control of those images".

Mr. Wolther said a photograph Mr. Seaman took of Mr. Lennon and his son looking out at the beach in Bermuda had appeared in a Capitol Records booklet accompanying a CD set. "These private family moments have been used repeatedly . . . to market music," said Mr. Wolther.

Ms Ono's lawsuit also claimed that Mr. Seaman had breached a confidentiality agreement with the couple by contributing to several newspaper stories that she said had "demonised" her.

This week, one memorabilia dealer testified that he bought nine Lennon documents from Mr. Seaman for $64,500 and two other letters by Lennon for $10,000.

Mr. Seaman began working for Mr. Lennon in February 1979. Ono said she fired him in January 1982 when she caught him wearing Mr. Lennon's clothes and charging money to her accounts.

The case continues.