Game is taken off shelves after stabbing

CONTROVERSIAL video game Grand Theft Auto IV has been withdrawn from sale in Thailand after a taxi driver was stabbed to death by a teenager addicted to the violent game.

Police said 18-year-old Polwat Chino told officers that "killing seemed easy in the game" after they coaxed him from the cab.

The victim, Kuan Pohkang, from the poor northern province of Maha Sarakham, who was struggling to support his family and pay off bank loans, had been stabbed ten times.

The game is produced by Edinburgh-based developers Rockstar North.

Police said Chino had grown desperate for cash, telling them in a statement: "I needed money to play the game every day."