In an incident that will definitely provide more fodder for anti-games activists, Mark Bradford, 46, of Plymouth, Devon, is accused of assaulting a 13-year-old schoolboy, after the latter killed his character while playing "Call of Duty: Black Ops", a computer game, against each other on the Internet.

Bradford stormed to the boy's house and grabbed him by his throat, leaving him with scratch marks and reddened skin, before the boy's mother intervened, according to reports in the Herald Sun.

The Plymouth Court was told that Bradford and the boy had been playing together, via Sony PlayStation consoles and network. The pair were using microphones to interact with each other.

"Bradford (his character) was killed during the game and the boy called him a name," Gareth Warden, who is the prosecuting attorney, said in a report by the Mail Online.

However, Tracey Baker, who is also quoted in the Mail Online and is Bradford's lawyer, said he was suffering from mental issues, and "just lost it", after being instigated by the boy's name-calling.

Mark Bradford is due to appear before the Plymouth Magistrate Court on Oct. 24.

Sony