A heavy metal band due to perform in Britain has been blamed for an horrific school killing.

Slipknot, who play the Reading and Leeds festivals this weekend and are expected to announce a UK tour, are said to have inspired a teenager to stab a fellow pupil to death with a samurai sword.

The unnamed boy walked into his school in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday morning and fatally knifed the 16-year-old in the neck.

The boy wore a mask similar to that sported by Slipknot’s drummer Joey Jordison while carrying out the attack He then stabbed another boy and two gardeners.

Pierre Eksteen, who is in charge of the school’s support network, said: We know the wrong kind of music and drugs have bad effects. Young people need to be informed of the effects of bad satanic music.

So now Slipknot are responsible for knife crime.

Not the most obvious of choices, but The Dark Knights been shown for a few weeks now (and society for 12 year olds still hasn't crumbled) and we still don't have a Gotham related fatality, so better find another scapegoat, and here it is SLIPKNOT.

Gotta be honest, I've never seen the initial thrill of this band, but hey, that's just me. What really got me was the fact that the killer in question was wearing a mask like 'Knot drummer Joey jordison, ok, suppose that could be a similarity. Or if you dig just a smidgen deeper (in my case a little poke around some very bog standard Slipknot fansites), you will find out that Jordison's mask is in fact based on the mask used by the character Eric Draven from The Crow, WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICH!!!!!!!!!!!!! in turn is based on a very basic porcelain mask used by artists, and board treading Thespians of old. You can buy these masks in art supply stores the world over, and if bright sparkly things are your bag, you can buy an even cheaper plastic version of said mask that comes with felt pens, so you can be all pretty like.

KNIVES DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW MANY MORE TIMES.

South Africa's Independent Online reports on yet another attempt to link media violence to the real deal. It reports that Cape Town-based watchdog group the Family Policy Institute has petitioned South Africa's government to recall all music containing violent lyrics and all video games with violent content.

FPI spokesman Errol Naidoo made the request, expressing the group's concerns over potential negative influences on young people. The move comes in the wake of the samurai sword killing of a 16-year-old by a schoolmate who allegedly dressed himself like Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison.

Prefering not to wait for any type of inquiry, Naidoo requested the recall of the games and CDs pending the outcome of the investigation. From the Independent Online:

He said there was no guarantee that removing violent music and games would prevent violent behaviour, but that it would provide added peace of mind for families.