There was a time – more cruel and less civilised than ours – when public executions were enjoyed as entertainment.



In those savage days, crowds watched old women being drowned as witches and animals tortured for fun.



But I’ve never heard of little girls being beaten with a belt as part of a game. That, in my view, is not just savage, it’s seriously damaging.



Who would play such a game for fun? People who are impervious to the suffering of children.



At Childline I have listened to the voices of beaten children.



I remember a paediatrician telling me of a child whose body carried the scars of dozens of ferocious beatings with a belt.



How could anyone even contemplate creating a video game with that as a ‘fun’ element in it?



Then there is the added danger that a child might play this hideous game – perhaps a child who lives with violence, who has been beaten or watched parents physically fighting.



How many nightmares will this game provoke?



Criminals who attack children often create similar fantasies in their imaginations before they act them out. Such a criminal would regard this game as a validation.



The designers of video games have a duty to protect children, and that responsibility extends to protecting virtual children.



We never want anyone to believe that beating a child to death with a belt is the stuff of entertainment. It should never be trivialised or turned into a game.



I call upon Sony Interactive Entertainment to think again and withdraw this game, or at least remove this scene where a virtual child is put in life-threatening danger. If you don’t, real children may suffer.