Can a computer game be blamed for murder? A number of high street retailers have taken the violent computer game Manhunt off their shelves. The move comes after the parents of a schoolboy murdered by a friend blamed the game for their son's death. Warren Leblanc, 17, of Braunstone Frith, Leicester, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the murder of 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah in February 2004 Stefan's parent's claimed Leblanc had been obsessed by the game but standards bodies have rejected the link. Patrick Pakeerah, Stefan's father, welcomed the decision to withdraw the game from sale. He said: "It's a video instruction on how to murder somebody, it just shows how you kill people and what weapons you use. "If we can stop another family having to go through what we're going through now, by taking this games and games of this nature off the shelves, then we would have achieved something and Stefan wouldn't have died in vain." Leblanc had savagely beaten his victim with a claw hammer and stabbed him repeatedly after luring him to a local park.
I read that on the bus today, weird. Its more like something that wuold happen in the states. Argueably, the game has an 18 rating and the boy was 17.
no because if thats the case where do you stop, jimmys got a point he shouldn't have had access to the game anyways because hes underage, so if he got that he could have seen any horror/action movie where weapons are used and learned how to kill someone.
i have the game and have completed it.. it's a hardline 18 and if i was a parent i wouldn't let a kid play it...
aye even the murdered kids mother said that kids don't have the psycological barriers to switch from fantasy to reality.
"guns dont kill people robbers do" as the song goes. yeah video games may give people ideas or get them thinking a certain way - 4 hours playing matrix i was standing at the bus stop imagining a flying kick to a small school childs head (just a fleeting thought) but when all is said and done the people make a conscious decision whether to act upon thier desires or impulses. its thier decision, and if they havent got the common sense to realise it is unacceptable thats thier problem, and its come back to hit them in the face. totally wrong. i have no sympathy when it comes to people like that.
I think computer games are more likely to have an effect than films as you're actually involved in them, and causing some of the violence yourself.
No, because 1000's of other people have played the game and nothing has happened. It may have help in a way but it would not be to blame, something else has to be there in a persons brain to want to go kill somebody. Cant think of an example at the min
I agree the game may have put across ideas but in society today you cant just blame a game for MURDER .... no disrespect to the Family etc but we are all individuals and are in control of what we do...
