Hot Pursuit turns nasty
Australians can be stupid too
Hot on the heels of yesterday's report about a Texan boy's lawyers claiming that violent videogames made him shoot his teenage friend to death comes a similar story from Australia. This time the idiot in question is a 26 year old called Trevor Edward Holton, who was brought to trial this week accused of killing a police officer during a prolonged high speed chase last year. According to the prosecution the man was an avid fan of Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit, "engaged in a real life re-enactment of the computer game". Whatever the reasons, the chase came to a tragic end when Trevor Holton swerved across the road to avoid spikes which were being deployed in an attempt to stop him, a move which he apparently later told the police he'd learnt from the game. Unfortunately in the process he hit the police officer who had been setting up the spikes, sending him flying 80m down the road to his death. The driver then fled the scene after his stolen car flipped over and landed on its roof, only to be arrested later in the day. Of course, this isn't the first time that videogame-related violence has hit the headlines in Australia. Last year the shooting of a security guard at an abortion clinic in Melbourne was rather bizarrely blamed on Half-Life, while more recently Grand Theft Auto 3 sparked controversy when politicians discovered the game allowed you to pay prostitutes for sex and then run them over to get your money back. Related Feature - Australians blame Half-Life for shooting