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From Sky News

Thousands of gamers are using the internet to get their hands on a video game banned because of its graphic scenes of torture and murder, Sky News has learned.

Manhunt 2, which features a character who goes on a gruesome killing spree in a mental institution, is the only game to have been banned by British censors in the past 10 years.

The British Board of Film Classification refused to allow it to go on sale because of its "relentless violence" and "casual sadism".

But the game was leaked onto the web - and anyone with a little technical knowledge can download it and play it on a modified games console.

Manhunt 2 was originally refused a classification by the BBFC in June because it "constantly encourages visceral killing".

Manufacturer Rockstar carried out changes to the game but last week it was once again refused a rating.

No-one of any age is allowed to play the game, and yet our investigation found thousands of people downloading it.

Gaming expert and journalist Rob Fahey told Sky News: "What's disturbing about the game is you play a killer.

"There's no victim to sympathise with, there's no particularly complex storyline; you simply go around killing people in extraordinarily violent ways... there's no moral framework around it."

The original title in the series, Manhunt, was withdrawn from sale by a number of high street retailers after the parents of a schoolboy murdered by a friend blamed it for the killing.

Warren Leblanc, 17, savagely beat and stabbed to death 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah in Leicester in February 2004.

Stefan's parents later said Leblanc had been obsessed by the game, which awards points for brutal killings.

However, police and standards bodies rejected the link.

Rockstar Games says the content of Manhunt 2 is "in line with other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers".

It accepts the game was leaked onto the web by an employee of a different company who had access to the preview copy. That person has been sacked.

Rockstar is appealing against the British board of Film Classification ban.

The firm, which also produced the smash hit ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto series, says it has every right to make such games - even if some find them unpalatable.

It argues that it is parents' responsibility to supervise what games children play, and what they see on the internet.


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