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When playing deathmatch or other multiplayer options online with other gamers, heckling comes with the territory, even more so for newbies still trying to figure out the benefits of certain weapons or the layout of a map. Sometimes it's just not possible to not get offended by some of the more insulting remarks without some kind of retaliation. For one father of three, he took his revenge just a little too far.
46 and unemployed, Mark Bradford of Plymouth said he "lost it" while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops over the PlayStation Network. A local 13-year-old was reportedly subjecting Bradford to a barrage of taunts and verbal abuse including the name "d***head." It suddenly became personal when the teen then gunned down Bradford's character.
"'I just lost it," Bradford admitted. "In a moment of madness I went round to the house. I didn't know what I was going to do. It wasn't malice. I just grabbed him."
That's right: Bradford hunted the teen down who conveniently lived just 200 yards up the street, barged into the house, plowed into the living room where the boy sat playing the game, and then placed both hands around the boy's neck in a "revenge attack." The teen wasn't harmed, but the clamp caused reddening and a scratch on his neck. Later the boy said he didn't know what was going on, that the two previously "had a bit of a joke and then he stormed in and grabbed me."
"I've seen him since and apologized," Bradford said after pleading guilty to the assault. "The injuries weren't that bad but I do regret it." Previously he said the boy "was baiting me and just would not shut up." Bradford reportedly has mental health issues.
According to reports, the two knew each other prior to the July 1 incident. The victim's 33-year-old mother, who remains nameless along with her son, was the one who broke off the attack by pulling Bradford away her son.
"It's pathetic that a grown man would attack a defenseless child like this," she told reporters. "If you can't handle losing to a child then you shouldn't be playing games. I know Mark and went straight round when I found out what had happened. I was fuming. But rather than have it out with him, I got the police involved."
Bradford has admitted to one count of assault by beating and was given a 16-week prison sentence at Plymouth Magistrates' Court, but the sentence has been suspended for 12 months. For now he must wear an electronic tag for eight weeks, and pay £80 compensation to the teenager. He also has a curfew of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m..
