British publisher trade body ELSPA has sent an open letter to the UK Home Secretary, David Blunkett, expressing serious concerns over the recent media controversy related to Rockstar"s Manhunt title. Media reports of a link between the game and a murder in Leicestershire earlier this year were compounded this week by comments from Keith Vaz MP, who also linked the game with the tragic events.
However, a new twist came in the case yesterday when Leicestershire Constabulary denied any link between the game and the murder, reiterating that the motive for the attack was robbery, and revealed that the game was found not in the perpetrator"s bedroom, but in the victim"s. A lawyer claiming to act for the victim"s parents has since asserted that despite this, the game did belong to the killer.