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The son used to dress in his school uniform each morning, but after his mother left for work he would change out of the uniform and spend the day playing the interactive game.

She would return home each night none the wiser.

The family is struggling to find help for him, and a succession of psychologists and counsellors have not yet made any progress with him.

The boy's parents are divorced, and he lives with his mother. His sister moved out because she couldn't cope with his bizarre addiction.

His son had been transformed from a typically bright, sports-mad teenager to being reclusive and aggressive.

"It just got worse and worse,'' he said. ``He just wouldn't come off it at night. He'd play until two or three o'clock in the morning.

"If his mother tried to shut it off or whatever, he'd become violent.

"He displayed the characteristics of a heroin addict. You haven't got someone putting a needle in their arm and having a high, but you've got all the telltale collateral damage of a heroin addict _ withdrawal from his family, withdrawal from his friends, lies to cover his addiction. He'll do anything.

"He was an outdoor kid. Every sport you could name, he was playing. Now he's white, doesn't go outside. He was very bright, he was going to be a forensic scientist.

"Recently he has admitted it, before he was in denial. He wants to get back to what he was like. He wants to get better. He wants to go to school. He can't -- it won't let him. It's like any addiction.''