Phil Elliott 10:53 (BST)
05/07/2008

Noel Gallagher, guitarist and songwriter for UK band Oasis, has stated his belief that videogames are partly to blame for a knife crime spree that has claimed the lives of 18 teenagers in London so far this year.

"People say it's through violent video games and I guess that's got something to do with it," he said after picking up an award at the Silver Clef ceremony in London, according to the BBC.

"If kids are sitting up all night smoking super skunk [cannabis] and they come so desensitised to crime because they're playing these videogames, it's really, really scary."

Knife crime in the UK capital has hit the headlines on numerous occasions in the past few months, with repeated calls from celebrities to the government to respond to the situation.

"In my day, status was trying to be somebody, do you know what I mean, not trying to kill somebody? I was up in Liverpool for a week a couple of weeks ago and even on the news there it's every single night.

"I don't even know what Cameron or Gordon Brown are going to do about it," he added.

Earlier this year the government's Byron Review looked into the subject of the impact of violence in videogames on children, and made a number of recommendations which the government accepted, including a bigger role in game ratings for the BBFC.

But that particular recommendation, which is open to public consultation, has caused some concern among publishers, who have told GamesIndustry.biz that games could be more expensive or face delays in being released as a result - claims which the BBFC has since rubbished.