Bloke stabbed while queuing for GTA IV

30 Apr 2008 | 11:27 BST

By Andrew Thomas

LITTLE DID I KNOW when I wrote yesterday that gamers would never experience the violence of GTA IV for real unless they were very unlucky, that a very unlucky geezer was about to be stabbed while standing in line to buy a copy and another had his jaw broken.

Queues formed outside many games shops when the much-hyped game went on sale and around a hundred punters had gathered at Gamestation in Croydon, South London, when a 23-year-old gameist was stabbed several times by a hooded passer by while standing in the queue.

The real cops were summoned and took him to a real hospital, where he was later discharged.

All this excitement was experienced at absolutely no charge to the participants, the knife wielder having legged it before the plod turned up, possibly in a stolen car. It would be nice to think so.

Meanwhile, another hapless gamer was on his way home having coughed up forty quid for the game, when he was set upon by a group of ruffians and relieved of his copy along with several of his teeth.

The miscreants punched the victim to the ground and gave him a good kicking, breaking his nose and jaw. Police described the villains as being clean shaven, so they obviously weren't avid fans of the game. µ

L'Inq
London Times

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