Boy, 13, slashed friend's neck over 'Xbox games row' Published duration 2 May 2013

A 13-year-old boy has admitted slashing the neck of another teenager after the pair had fallen out over Xbox games.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met the victim online in December 2011 while playing the 18-rated "Gears of War 3" game.

After falling out about this and other games, the boy slashed his former friend's neck in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire on 14 April 2012.

Sentence on the boy was deferred at the High Court in Glasgow.

The court heard how the boys met online around Christmas time in 2011 and eventually met in person and played football together with other youngsters.

Name calling

There was no animosity between them until a month before the attack when they had fallouts online about the games they had been playing, including Gears of War 3.

The court was told this amounted to name calling via the messaging system used in the game.

On 14 April last year the victim met up with some friends and the group later encountered the accused and another boy at a local shop.

The 14-year-old kept his distance due to the previous arguments but later that night he and another boy were going to a friend's house in Clydebank when they became aware of the accused.

The court heard words may have been exchanged between the boys, but the victim cannot recall this.

The accused grabbed the 14 year-old by the throat and then slashed him across the neck.

The victim put his hands to his throat and felt blood pouring from a large wound under his chin.

Following the attack, the court was told, the accused sneered at the teenager, saying "don't die", before calmly walking off.

When paramedics arrived, the victim said a boy had "slit his throat in an argument about XBox games".

The wound exposed his windpipe and required 20 staples following surgery, which has left him scarred.

'Really sorry'

The accused was later questioned after being detained at his Glasgow secondary school.

He made no comment to police at the time but it was later discovered he had sent two voice messages to his victim via Xbox Live.

One claimed he was "really sorry" for what happened and that he was "an idiot".

It said: "Honestly you don't know how upset I am. I'm sitting here on the x-box just to say I'm sorry bro."

The other, which was also sent on the day of the attack, said: "I know you won't accept my apology and I know I'm going to get the jail, but I am actual so upset and so down."

Prosecutor Andrew Brown QC told the court that police had questioned the role of the games in this attack.

He said: "The reporting officer was of the opinion that the violent video games played online by the accused may have been a factor in his conduct.

"As noted, the games are very violent in nature and have a British Board of Film Classification 18 rating in the UK."