Gordon Brown to discuss violent videogames - despite no link to murder
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to meet the mother of Stefan Pakeerah, a 14 year-old whose murder in 2004 sparked a row about Rockstar's videogame Manhunt.
Despite repeated evidence showing that the perpetrator of the crime, 17 year-old Warren Leblanc, was not in possession of the game, and despite prosecution and defence lawyers - as well as the police - pouring scorn on the link, the Prime Minister is going to discuss violent videogames with Giselle Pakeerah today, according to the Leicester Mercury.
The move follows ill-advised comments made last Friday in a Parliamentary debate by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz - a long-time critic of one of the most popular entertainment pastimes for a wide cross-section of the population - as rape-simulators.
This allegation was shot down by Conservative MP Ed Vaizey, who pointed out that neither he, nor the BBFC, had ever encountered such a game.
And Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Margaret Hodge, dismissed links between the Pakeerah murder and Manhunt: "They may have made that statement, but the rationale for the statement is less clear," she said.
"The game was discovered not in Warren Leblanc's possession but in the victim's possession. It does not feature the use of a hammer, and it was not considered by the police to be a contributory factor.
"No such connection was ever suggested in court. Indeed, the prosecution and defence barristers insisted in court that the videogame had played no part in the killing. It was reported that Leblanc was motivated by fear of a gang to which he owed money."
The Byron Report, due later this month, and the CMS Select Committee are both investigating the effects of internet and videogame violence.
Both Keith Vaz and colleague Julian Brazier are set to meet the Prime Minister later today to discuss tougher regulations for videogames.
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