Het hek is in Engeland volledig van de dam, want er is, na de moord op de 14-jarige Stefan Pakeerah, een ware heksenjacht op computergames geopend. De Engelse krant Daily Mail opende gisteren groot op de voorpagina en heeft nu een "hitlist" van gewelddadige games opgesteld die uit de winkels verwijderd zouden moeten worden. Van elke game wordt beschreven wat voor gruwelijke en zieke acties de speler moet verrichten. Niet echt diepgaand materiaal, maar de media blijft ervan smullen...

Anyone in the UK who read a newspaper or watched a TV news channel yesterday will know about the controversy surrounding Rockstar Games' Manhunt and its alleged connections to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah. The story and knee-jerk response from the media mirrors the reaction to similar cases in the US where games have been blamed for murders committed by teenagers. This February a 17-year-old named Warren Leblanc killed 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah with a claw hammer and knife in order to repay a drugs debt. Now it seems that the murderer's copy of 18-rated game Manhunt has ended up in the dock. The murdered boy's parents claim that the killer was “obse ed” with the game, and that the victim's injuries match the way in which players are encouraged to kill in Manhunt. Because of this, they now wish to launch a Corporate Manslaughter case against the game's developers and publishers.