Grand Theft Auto hits headlines again

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 20 September, 2011

Killer planned "GTA-style massacre".

Grand Theft Auto has once again hit the headlines, this time in relation to a killing spree aboard a submarine.

23-year-old Ryan Donovan, from Dartford, Kent, told friends he was about to go on a "Grand Theft Auto-style massacre" before he embarked upon a gun rampage aboard HMS Astute, according to a report by The Metro newspaper.

He was jailed yesterday for a minimum of 25 years for shooting Lt Cmdr Ian Molyneux in the head at point blank range with a SA80 assault rifle after a heavy night of drinking.

Before that he had shot at two petty officers, who dodged the bullets. After killing Molyneux he shot and seriously wounded Lt Cmdr Christopher Hodge. He was eventually tackled by Southampton city council leader Royston Smith and chief executive Andrew Neill.

Prosecutor Nigel Lickley told the court: "He started talking about the video game Grand Theft Auto where you start a massacre and rack up points by killing."

Neil described Donovan as being like somebody who was in "a dream and they were doing this almost like in a video game".

The Metro newspaper carries the story on its front page this morning, with the headline: "Sailor's 'GTA gun spree' on nuke sub."

The sandbox gangster game is no stranger to controversy, of course, and is often linked to real world violence.

In 2009 a multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed in Alabama against Take-Two, claiming that months of playing the game led a teenager to go on a rampage and kill three men, two of them police officers.

Last month, amid the UK riots, a London Evening Standard front page headline linked GTA to the real world violence. It was based on a quote from a constable, and was later pulled.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JahB #1 8 months ago

    There wasn't a single gta game where you actually got points for random killing sprees.

  • bobfish09 #2 8 months ago

    Nope, the guy clearly learned something from that bloke in Norway and is using games as a scapegoat.

  • gm914 #3 8 months ago

    Here we go again...

    Only a matter of time 'til we here about some guy going on a Red Dead Redemption-style rampage because, although he lived in a brothel, he wasn't allowed to bang the hookers...

  • The-Jack-Burton #4 8 months ago

    I may be inclined to raise an eyebrow if one of my friends tells me they are about to go on a killing spree.
    Edited by The-Jack-Burton at 20/09/11 @ 08:23

  • Genome #5 8 months ago

    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KQxwH7MmZY
    ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KQxwH7MmZY
    </a>

    Grand Theft Auto would like to have a word with you, JahB.

    That said, blaming GTA for this stuff is getting old.
    Edited by Genome at 20/09/11 @ 08:24

  • martmart #6 8 months ago

    I saw a frog trying to cross the road once. I deliberately ran it over so it didn't make it to the river. I don't want life imitating games either
    Edited by martmart at 20/09/11 @ 08:27

  • Sausagechaos #7 8 months ago

    Hooray for lazy journalism.
    I wish Rockstar would sue them.

  • Zebula77 #8 8 months ago

    I call bs on this one. There ain't no subs in GTA. :p

    *sorry*

  • wizlon #9 8 months ago

    I'm going to go on a Crazy Taxi style rampage... luckily every pedestrian I try to run over will jump out of the way the last second.
    I'm not really going to go on any sort of rampage, honest

  • midnight_walker #10 8 months ago

    There wasn't a single gta game where you actually got points for random killing sprees.

    Gouranga?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #11 8 months ago

    Pretty sure that GTA1 did in fact reward you for randomly killing people.

    That is besides the point though. Condolences to the families.

  • martmart #12 8 months ago

    @Der_tolle_Emil You are correct. You did get points in the 1st game for killing sprees and multipliers for driving over people whilst in a police car

  • AnsemsApprentice #13 8 months ago

    Maybe playing GTA did make him want to go on a killing spree; I don't find that so hard to believe, but we're responsible for our own actions. "After a heavy night of drinking" is what made my eyebrows raise.

  • PaulieWaulie #14 8 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:23:40 06-01-2012

  • KrazyFace #15 8 months ago

    Yeah, sorry JahB but there were indeed plenty of "KILL FRENZYS" in the first, second and third GTAs. That's besides the point though, the point here is that yet another nut-case has learned from Mr.Daily Mirror that if you say the secret word "G.T.A" before running around with a gun, half the blame gets removed from your poor, media-invaded mind.

    "It wasn't my fault gov! The games... THEY TOLD ME TO DO IT!"

  • midnight_walker #16 8 months ago

    I'm going to go on a Lord of the Rings type rampage.

  • wizlon #17 8 months ago

    @midnight_walker - One does not simply rampage into Mordor!

  • Snake_2011 #18 8 months ago

    boring now they have to blame something for someone who is mentally ill.wonder what made jack the ripper do what he did sure as hell was not GTA.
    Edited by Snake_2011 at 20/09/11 @ 08:58

  • Markusdragon #19 8 months ago

    It seems like most of the time, I am already on a Shenmue style rampage.

  • doragonpawwa #20 8 months ago

    Gosh tat game is so famous....

  • gjgjg #21 8 months ago

    Good thing Hitler was dead before he saw those movies and games about him. Wait...

  • dr_zoidthrob #22 8 months ago

    What would the news do without GTA to fall back on, eh?

  • handsonhips101 #23 8 months ago

    Jesus, they still banging on about gta and its effect on society? Next they will be dragging mortal kombat up...

  • Xboxfanuk #24 8 months ago

    THQ is kicking themselves the guy didn't say he was going on a Saints Row style rampage.

  • Eraserhead #25 8 months ago

    I think perhaps the salient bit might be "...after a heavy night of drinking" rather than a game.

  • Tonne #26 8 months ago

    i'm suprissed he didnt mention call of duty, i mean kill frenzy was killing civilians this was clearly a kill streak.


    but all kidding aside nice to see that prosecuters and journalist are so openminded about videogames.
    why do we have to blame something other then the person whatever happenend to plain crazy?

  • el_pollo_diablo #27 8 months ago

    I dont remember the GTA subplot involving a failure of the HMS Navy to monitor the psycological wellbeing of its employees.

    Mind you I never finished the fourth one.

  • BillMurray #28 8 months ago

    Can't say a heavy night of drinking has ever made me want to shoot up a sub.

  • Sodding_Gamer #29 8 months ago

    #22

    They would blame it on Saints Row instead. Or something like Assassins Creed. You can't win!

  • the_dudefather #30 8 months ago

    Remember all those Sub levels in GTA: red october

  • Hivess #31 8 months ago

    Ahaha, nice. Of course if GTA did not existed, this idiot wouldn't go on a killing spree, huh? : |

  • Puriel #32 8 months ago

    should have went bowling with his cousin roman instead of shooting up a submarine

  • orangpelupa #33 8 months ago

    deep concern to the families and hope they can cope with this verry unfortunate case...r
    also hoping the fable team wont get any trouble with Molyneux death.

    btw im confused with the article.

    first its said the Cmdr (commander? ) that dead then in the next pharagraph it say "After killing Molyneux he shot and seriously wounded Lt Cmdr Christopher Hodge. "

    first they talk about ian that dead. then suddently Molyneux mentioned. and then other cmndr died.

    can someone explain it to me in easy english?
    (my main language not english, sorry)

  • lockload #34 8 months ago

    I think having access to a SA80 was more of a cause than a videogame

  • RaZmataZ13 #35 8 months ago

    We must alter these rampages somehow...
    But how...
    I got it!

    "Tickle 30 Triads in 120 seconds!".
    That should get the papers off our backs.

    *A day later*

    Pilot's 'GTA tickle spree' causes uncontrollable laughter and brain injury



    The papers are on a 'GTA reporting spree' whatever happens.

  • Markitron #36 8 months ago

    So its GTA and not the 'heavy night of drinking' thats getting the blame here?

  • collateral89 #37 8 months ago

    im gunna go on a voldermort killing spree with my wand/stick

  • geeza2020 #38 8 months ago

    More sensationalism from the national media. They love to stir shit up over nothing, dont they? So this guy who has been trained to be a cold killer by all his superiors, then goes on a spree and kills his superiors, its then somehow a videogames fault? WTF? Surely the people who trained him to use a fucking SA80 Assault Rifle before realising he was a complete and utter nutcase are 100% to blame for this and not GTA or any other motherfucking videogame.

    This is from the metro and seems to have been glossed over:

    "And, after a night’s heavy drinking ashore, he took bloody revenge with the SA80 assault rifle he was given for sentry duty."

    "Able Seaman Donovan – who was obsessed with gangsta rap and called himself Reggie Moondog – had wanted a transfer to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Cardigan Bay."

    So, not only was he obsessed with gangster rap, he was also totally pissed at the time, but where are the headlines that say "Sozzled Sailor's Sick Session" or "Gangster Sailor has one drink for himself, then one for his homies and then goes on rampage"

    No, what am I saying? Of course it was video games that caused all this. Just like that Norwegian fellow a couple of months ago. Completely 100% upstanding gentlemen until video games got their dirty claws into them......

    The media in this country makes me fucking vomit sometimes

  • Tryhard #39 8 months ago

    So what about the millions who play violent video games and are peaceful bunnys all of their lives.We do not hear about them do we?

  • jaywalker3010 Verified Mastering Manager, Square Enix #40 8 months ago

    What does Jack the Ripper blame? or Peter Sutcliffe? Grand Theft Victorian times or Grand Theft Yorkshire Dales? oh wait they didnt HAVE games to blame..

  • -cerberus- #41 8 months ago

    Lads, I'm about to embark on a Naughty Bear rampage. All over Europe, children's stuffed animals will suffer! SUFFER!

  • geeza2020 #42 8 months ago

    @Vamos - Oh I'm sure that gangster rap wasnt to blame, I didnt mean that. I was just trying to highlight the fact that even the papers dont know who to blame anymore, pointing the finger at pretty much everybody in the article, but the headline space goes to GTA for some reason, even though the guy mentioned the game once to someone in passing a few days before. How is that more relevant than the fact the guy was drunk as a skunk while on a military vessel? If anything, all this story highlights for me is just how absolutely abysmal the state of our own armed forces are these days.

  • darleysam #43 8 months ago

    Pretty sure GTA IV never gave me points for killing innocent civillians.

  • arcam #44 8 months ago

    "I played violent video games and I turned out OK" is just as weak an argument as the ones the Metro and Daily Mail make.

    Yes the Metro's headline is sensationalist, but they are hardly the only ones guilty of that. The Metro doesn't specifically blame GTA, they just report that he said he was going on a "GTA-style massacre" which, if you are honest with yourselves, is actually quite interesting news. Any insight into a mass-murderer's mind is fascinating for many people, and it might even shed some light on how this person was dangerously mixing fantasy and reality in his head.

    I understand why people are uncomfortable with the finger-pointing, but if we are overly-defensive (which we always are in these stories), we end up looking like we are simply dismissing news like this just because we enjoy video games.
    Edited by arcam at 20/09/11 @ 11:24

  • Jonny5Alive7 #45 8 months ago

    A classic Metro paper headline, they're always trying to scaremonger.

  • stegabba #46 8 months ago

    people who want to commit murders will, no game is gonna change that fact, no point blaming a game as a way to say look it was not me but the game, get the fuck out of here with that shit, murders have been going on since humans can remember before electricity, this media hype this kind of thing up just to make a story

  • Doctor_What #47 8 months ago

    I miss the days of 'Satan made me do it', that was much more entertaining.

  • Spong #48 8 months ago

    "What would the news do without GTA to fall back on, eh?"

    Blame Call of Duty?

  • CatWeazle #49 8 months ago

    So the Navy gives machine guns out to any old pissed up fuckwit? Nice to know
    Edited by CatWeazle at 20/09/11 @ 11:51

  • TheNonk #50 8 months ago

    So it had nothing to do with the fact that the guy was a trained killer with access to guns?

  • shikz #51 8 months ago

    D U M B people blame games when its obvious those crims where MENTAL to start with ..Stupid

  • MisterM #52 8 months ago

    Yeah, I loved that mission on the submar... what? Oh, right, yeah. That didn't happen.

    Violent video games are not to blame. Violent, mentally unstable people are. I'd be more than happy to draw this out in crayon for whoever believes otherwise.

  • arcam #53 8 months ago

    Can anyone point me to where the Metro have blamed video games for this?

  • consoledelight #54 8 months ago

    There was the boat mission on GTA city stories, liberty or vice i cant remember. You go down into the hull of the boat to kill someone. Thats nearly a submarine

  • obihobson #55 8 months ago

    I am reading a story about a guy who went on a GTA style rampage, and in the top right hand corner is an advert for GTA4 12.95 from Zavvi... this is either hilariously ironic or massively insensitive depending on your point of view.........

    its kinda like reading story about a murderer and then getting a pop up advert selling you rope and a shuvel

  • Architect_z #56 8 months ago

    I think 23 year old Ryan should have played super rub a dub, that way he would have gone on a rubber duck rampage.

  • Bravestinsane #57 8 months ago

    Here we fucking go

    This is all bullshit

    Chances are if you kill someone because of a game, it wasn't the games fault that person was probably already fucking up in his head.

  • King_of_Hyrule #58 8 months ago

    I think the classic board game Battleship is to blame for any navy related destruction

  • Murton #59 8 months ago

    "I understand why people are uncomfortable with the finger-pointing, but if we are overly-defensive (which we always are in these stories), we end up looking like we are simply dismissing news like this just because we enjoy video games."

    Agree 100%, what I'm uncomfortable with though isn't the finger pointing but the complete lack of balance in reporting, the worst part being that the gaming media is much worse than any of the red tops when it comes to highlighting how much of a "bad guy" video games are. They have the golden opportunity to try and show this industry for what it could be and they piss all over it to drive the hit count a little higher, no wonder nobody takes games or gamers seriously when we don't ourselves.

    The crux of the argument is that video games sensationalise and even reward violence, but let's look at the bigger picture in this case.
    * Guy listened to gangster rap, which also sensationalises violence and was the violence scapegoat of the 90s before the videogames boom at the turn of the century. What changed?
    * the heavy night drinking, do we need any more studies into how alcohol affects our judgement? Surely this should be as big a factor if not bigger.
    * the fact that the guy was so clearly unhappy/angry with his job that he thought a "GTA-style massacre" was both rational and justified to the point where he actually discussed it with someone. (that man deserves a good kicking for not raising the alarm, he may as well have said "that's so cool, here, take my bullets too";)

    And let's be honest, can we call this a massacre? It's not like he shot up the mess hall or crew quarters, he killed and shot at a couple of officers, this was a targeted attack, are we to believe that he wasn't in some way aggrieved by these men? I'm not condoning his actions, but the fact that he carried out the attack has to say something for his belief in his reasoning and to dismiss that as "he was clearly mental" merely means it'll happen again and it'll keep being blamed on games, or rap or heavy metal or whatever new scapegoat comes along next.

  • Ashcroft #60 8 months ago

    I'm just back from my Home Alone rampage.

  • misinformed #61 8 months ago

    From whats been said in this article, one person has used a common experience which he presumably knew the other has also had (both played the game), to declare and explain a course of action which is as close to everyday life as the other can understand the reference. How many shared experiences of massacres do you guys/girls have? He just drew the most obvious one from memory. Thats all you can safely say.