Manhunt murder: Stefan Pakeerah bludgeoning

In February 2004, 17-year-old Warren Leblanc bludgeoned 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah to death with a claw hammer in Leicester, England. Leblanc claimed he only meant to rob his friend to pay off a £75 debt, but a post-mortem examination revealed that more than 50 separate injuries had been inflicted on Pakeerah's body, leading many to doubt his shaky defense.

While Leblanc claimed he committed the crime due to his affiliation with a gang to whom he owed the £75, the victim’s parents blamed the very popular and extremely violent video game  Manhunt , published by Rockstar Games, the company behind the controversial  Grand Theft Auto series.

This speculation and media publicity surrounding the case caused some UK's biggest retailers such as Dixons to pull Manhunt off their shelves. Regardless of the publicity blaming the Rockstar video game, the judge’s words while sentencing Leblanc to life in prison showed that he blamed one person alone: “One thing is clear – you, and you alone, were responsible for this prolonged, vicious and murderous attack on someone who thought of you as a friend.”

It was later revealed that in fact, not only had Leblanc never owned a copy of Manhunt, but he had never even played it. It was actually Pakeerah himself who played the game, even though he wasn't 18 years old: this was why his mother was familiar with the game. It prompted various retailers to resume sales of the game again.