Law and Order game withdrawn due to Bulger image

A computer game featuring a surveillance camera image of murder victim James Bulger is being withdrawn from sale in the UK following calls from the toddler's mother.

The offending image appears in Law and Order: Double or Nothing, which was released in 2003 by Legacy Interactive. A still of CCTV footage of Bulger, recorded in The Strand shopping centre in Merseyside, is visible on a bulletin board in the game.

In a conversation with GamesIndustry.biz, Charlie Duldulao of Legacy Interactive said "Legacy has issued a formal apology which was referred to by the BBC. We did not realise the photo had made it into the game, and it was not our intention to cause offense."

Denise Fergus, James' mother, wrote to Legacy Interactive demanding that the image be removed. Her spokesman, Chris Johnson, told BBC Radio Merseyside: "It is something that she feels quite strongly about, that images of James should not be used and abused in this way as if he is some kind of public property."

After Fergus' objections were made public, distributor Global Software Publishing withdrew the game from sale in the UK.

Duldulao told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is currently building a patch to correct the matter. When asked if the game would be pulled from store shelves in the US as it has in the UK, rather than simply being patched, Duldulao replied: "Although we are building a patch, that is not our final decision. We are currently reviewing our options to rectify the situation."

"One of those options is to pull the game from the shelves."