Three teenagers who broke into properties and stole motorcycles were re-enacting scenes from a popular video game after becoming addicted to playing it, a court heard.
The Bahrainis, aged 15, 16 and 17, appeared at the Lower Criminal Court yesterday where they admitted charges of theft.
Lawyer Ali Al Khalifa, representing the schoolboys, requested they be acquitted due to being addicted to Grand Theft Auto which he claimed had influenced them into copying the actions of the protagonist of the game in real life.
“Addiction of video games is a very serious issue and we can see how it affected my clients and influenced them to carry out the thefts,” he told a leading judge.
“There is a lot of violence and the lead character causes chaos by blowing up things, stealing objects and committing crimes on his missions.
“My clients are very young and they copy what they see in these video games. They made a plan to try and generate the excitement that they feel when playing in real life.
“They broke into the homes of people and stole motorbikes to joyride.”
The teenagers were obsessed with playing Grand Theft Auto V, the latest edition of an action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games and part of an open-world series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly.
Mr Khalifa
The lawyer slammed the content of the games and suggested the recent Covid-19 pandemic which had kept many children isolated at home had made matters worse. In court he pleaded on families to be aware of the dangers.
“This is the fault of violent video games and it’s the job of parents to take care of their children,” slammed Mr Khalifa. “These games destroy our society and make teenagers become addicted to playing them.
“Due to Covid-19 they were at home and playing GTA all the time. They decided to take the motorbikes just for joyrides and were going to return them.”
The defendants are accused of breaking into homes and stealing motorbikes in June.
A detective said that the defendants were arrested due to sufficient evidence and information provided by informants.
“The defendants carried out the crimes and were apprehended after CCTV footage showed them carrying out the thefts,” the officer told prosecutors.
“Information was also presented to us that helped in their arrest. They admitted to carrying out the crimes after playing video games.”
The trial has been adjourned until tomorrow for a ruling.
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