Teenager murdered after meeting paedophile through online gaming

Phoenix Wright courtroom

Games can accomplish so many things, but unfortunately they aren’t always positive.

Yesterday, a 19 year old in the UK was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison for the murder of a 14 year old, after the two met and interacted online via the popular gaming communication network Teamspeak.

The victim was a young boy named Breck Bednar, who was killed last February. The perpetrator was a 19-year-old self-proclaimed computer engineer by the name of Lewis Daynes, who today found himself sentenced to a minimum of 25 years over the murder. This is in addition to five other criminal counts, which are not being prosecuted due to an unlikely possibility of conviction.

The fact that the two boys met through online gaming shows that our beloved hobby can sometimes be steeped in darkness. According to the court, Daynes and Bednar met face-to-face on February 16th - the day before the police were called. During the intervening time, there was evidence of sexual activity. All in all, the case makes for a tragic set of circumstances.

Games can sometimes help us face down our darker tendencies. We face the inherent monstrosity in the human condition, and find catharsis in the fact that we can be aware of just how troubling and troubled it can be in and around the human race. Sometimes it means seeing a villain so twisted and dark that they’ll do anything just to get another dollar, another day, or another detriment to one’s enemies. Other times, we see the villains we resemble, and we have to face down something crueler, colder, and altogether worse within ourselves.

Seeing it mirrored outside of gaming always makes news like this hit home harder than it should. Regardless of the cause, motive, or mentality, it’s hard to look at a death as anything but a loss - especially for friends and family of the victim.

Here’s hoping that tomorrow brings something brighter, and the darkness we see stays in the books we read, the movies we watch, and the games we play - rather than the streets we walk.

Rest in Peace, Breck.

Taylor Hidalgo

Taylor Hidalgo

Writer
Taylor is a freelance writer, recreational reader, and enthusiastic conversationalist. He can be frequently found rambling on Twitter, writing on his blog, or playing too many shooters on Steam.
Taylor Hidalgo

@NukeLassic

Writer at Haywire Magazine, XPGain, and Continue-Play. Word Enthusiast, Game Enthusiast, and hopefully your next friend.
@HurdyIV I feel like that's true of just about anything: outside of one's culture, race, sex, etc. Just add research, empathy, and help. - 44 mins ago
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  • DarthDiggler

    You can meet a creep on any device that provides communication. Games have nothing to do with it.

    • Mike Jones

      no no no….just like violence,threats,trolling and every other bad thing in the world it has only been a problem since the invention of video games : )

      • JoeDaniel

        exactly… bad things happen FAR more often on Craigslist than they do in online gaming communities!

    • NL37

      This happens on forums and dating sites to, would love to hear authors take on that.
      *the internet can acomplish so many things but unfortunately they arent always positive.
      0/5 very uninformed

  • Luke Bailey

    There is always this risk with the internet..

    the fact they met through a game is irrelivant..
    this could just as easily have been facebook, twitter or any other online system that allows communication between strangers….

    sad story but at least the bastard is going to pay for it

  • Popsook

    Who says they met while gaming? Article says they met through teamspeak, which is a VOIP application that can be used independent of any video game.

    Ignorant writers and just people in general really need to stop the propaganda against video games

    • l337_gamer

      All coverage, including the official announcements made by the courts, have been clear that the two individuals met via online gaming. That’s not to say that gaming is to blame, just that the medium was the common link which saw them coming into contact.

      • Popsook

        fair enough but my view is that it’s still ignorant to push or focus the headline from one detail in the story to sway opinion that somehow gaming is to blame when this type of stuff happens even though gaming has nothing to do with other crimes of similar nature.

        All this story does is ignite uninformed readers into somehow believing gaming is a huge issue in society, leads to youth to commit murder. The more relevant focus should be on the mental state and background of the accused and why they would commit such a crime. People don’t commit crimes like that because they play games. They commit crimes of this nature because there is usually an underlying mental issue with that specific individual. And in my opinion, more to do with their upbringing combined with environmental experiences with people during their impressionable year.

  • Titto Rios

    PC master race!

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