PlayStation Implicated In U.K. Murder With Regular Bedfellow GTA!
British broadsheet The Telegraph reports that a father stabbed his partner to death after she threw him out of their bedroom. The reason? So she could spend the nights playing on a Sony PlayStation console.
Malcolm Palmer, 62, apparently turned on the mother of his three children after she became hooked playing Grand Theft Auto, a title which is implied to have belonged to their ten year old son, James. It’s stated that James would play on the computer until midnight, after which his mother, Ms Cannom, would take over regularly staying up until five or six in the morning.
The prosecutor for the court, John Pini, stated: “Carol quickly became hooked. He was very unhappy about the amount of time she was playing on the PlayStation.”
The defendant had also become convinced that his partner was having an affair, and went into a violent rage when she told him to move out last November, claiming he would no longer have access to their children.
It was that evening he attacked her with two knives, inflicting 20 separate wounds to her upper chest. The murder was overhead by their son James, who called 999 before Palmer grabbed the phone and told emergency operators: “I’m sorry. I think I’ve killed her.”
Defense lawyer Timothy Spencer QC told the court: “The genesis of this tragedy bizarrely lies with the purchase of the PlayStation.”
It’s our conclusion at OLC that once again video games make for a convenient alibi when dealing with cases such as this. The mere fact that a PlayStation was on the premises was enough upon which to base the entire defense – Grand Theft Auto, incorrectly listed as a driving title, made him do it.
To blame the the PlayStation as a catalyst for the crime is ridiculous. Sure it may have had a small impact in the breakdown of the relationship, but as a reason for murder? Never mind the fact that the console had nothing to do with the argument as presented in the facts. It was an dispute over living arrangements which ultimately, and sadly, led to Ms. Cannom’s death.
Sentence is due to be passed this Wednesday, April 1st.
Source: Telegraph Online
“Defense lawyer Timothy Spencer QC told the court: “The genesis of this tragedy bizarrely lies with the purchase of the PlayStation.”
Complete and utter bullshit.
The genesis of the tragedy is that Malcom Palmer is a homicidal asshole, unable to deal with his long-time partner now that …”"Their mortgage was paid and they didn’t need to work. They had a lot of time on their hands and little chance to get away from each other. ”
“And playing on the Playstation a lot was just a release, a bit of escapism, neither of them were happy by that time.”
-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/7976406.stm
To blame a gaming console is the same as blaming the victim. Once again we hear how someones life was destroyed by the corrupting influence of video games. Usually it turns out that the criminal was an avid gamer, usually of hyper-violent FPS’s, or the always popular GTA series. And that it was a major contributing factor which caused him/her to offend. This case is somewhat different; the victim was the one corrupted by the evils of gaming, and the perpetrator was driven to murder as a result. It’s the same old “the devil made me do it” defense that allows the one who commited the crime to not be personally responsible for their actions. This person knew the difference between right and wrong, as evidenced by his long years of not getting into trouble like this. The couples relationship had soured long before the Playstation3 arrived. And, like many people, she played GTAIV as a way to escape.
Faced with the reality that the couple probably were no longer all that compatible, Palmer got exiled to the couch. Night after cold night on the couch, a lonely and increasingly bitter , (and don’t forget rejected),Palmer began to let his paranoid fantasies run wild in his mind.
“The court yesterday (Monday) heard how Palmer had also become convinced that she was having an affair, and went into a violent rage when she told him she wanted him to move out in November last year, threatening that he would never get to see their children again.”
-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5077892/Father-killed-partner-who-became-hooked-on-Sony-PlayStation.html
That’s the real motivation, not gaming. The relationship was over, and Palmer was unwilling to accept that fact. He went into a jealous rage resulting in the frequent “if I can’t be with her, no one can” mindset we see soo often. Gaming isn’t the culprit. Malcolm Palmer is, and for all the usual bullshit reasons.