Censors pass violent video

Game blamed for slaying

Herald Sun, July 30, 2004

An ultra violent video game sold in Australia has been blamed for the cold blooded slaying of a school boy by his teenage friend.

Warren Leblanc, 17, yesterday admitted he repeatedly battered friend Stephan Pakeerah, 14, with a claw hammer and knife after luring him into a British park.

The method of the killing and weapons used mimicked the disturbing game Manhunt, in which a man roams a city massacring every person he encounters.

New Zealand banned the game, which has an R18+ Rating in Britain. But Australians over 14 can legally buy or rent the game, for Play Station 2 or X-Box, from any department store or video shop.

The victim’s mother, Giselle said her son’s killer was obsessed with Manhunt.

Ms Pakeerah plans to launch a corporate manslaughter case against the game’s distributors.

The game features an evil voice that cackles and spurs the player to murder victims in increasingly brutal ways. The more frenzied the killings, the higher the points earned.

Critics describe Manhunt as the benchmark by which all video game violence will be measured. NZ censors found the game contained graphic and frenzied murders with a variety of clubs, guns and weapons and was just shy of promoting extreme violence and cruelty.

“It’s availability is likely to be injurious to the public good,” their report concluded.

Australian censors rated the game as MA15+ because it had “medium level violence that does not exceed a strong impact”.

Australia does not have an R18+ rating for video games. Office of Film and Literature Classification director Des Clark rejected overseas evidence of the game’s horror. “The animated violence did not exceed a strong viewing or playing impact,” he said.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls yesterday pushed for an R-rating for games such as Manhunt.

“ Victoria would support the inclusion of an R-rating,” he said. Federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock did not return calls.

Australian Family association spokesman Bill Muehlenberg said the game should be banned. “These games clearly push some people over the edge. They make them numb to violence, bloodshed and gore in real life,” he said.

Adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Greg said violent games were dangerous for at-risk teenagers. “The more violence these sort of kids are exposed to, the more likely they are to emulate it violent behavior,” he said.

Leicester Crown Court in England heard Leblanc came to his victim’s home last February with weapons in a bag, lured him to nearby woods and told him to crouch in the bushes. He then put on gloves and battered the student, first with his hammer and then the knife. The young victim died from multiple injuries.

Leblanc, who pleaded guilty to murder, is expected to be sentenced in September.