Microsoft developer throttled his SEVEN year old son after he refused to stop playing his Nintendo


Top Microsoft developer choked his SEVEN-year-old son after he refused to stop playing Nintendo: ‘I will stop him breathing’

  • Senior Microsoft developer Nicholas Lester lost his cool over a gaming session 
  • He pleaded guilty to unlawfully assaulting his seven year old son in fit of rage
  • Lester choked the boy in front of terrified witnesses who called police 
  • The boy had been playing a Nintendo Switch game when his father ‘lost it’
  • Lester was sentenced on Monday to a community correction order 


An angry dad who throttled his seven-year old son in a fit of rage after he refused to stop playing video games threatened to ‘stop him breathing’. 

Nicholas Lester, a senior developer at Microsoft, went ballistic when his boy refused to stop playing his Nintendo Switch – a direct rival to Microsoft’s Xbox games consoles. 

‘I will stop him breathing,’ Lester screamed after placing his terrified son in a choke hold on February 6 last year. 

Nicholas Lester, who is a senior developer at Microsoft, put his son in a choke hold after he refused to stop playing his Nintendo Switch

Nicholas Lester, who is a senior developer at Microsoft, put his son in a choke hold after he refused to stop playing his Nintendo Switch 

A seven-year old boy was choked until he couldn't breath by his own father (stock image)

A seven-year old boy was choked until he couldn’t breath by his own father (stock image)

Lester faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday where he was sentenced to a one-year community corrections order with a requirement that he perform 100 hours of unpaid work. 

The 41-year old pleaded guilty last week to unlawfully assaulting his boy. 

The court heard Lester had a history of angst with his now estranged partner over the parenting of their son. 

In sentencing Lester, magistrate Caroline Boult condemned Lester for treatment of the boy. 

‘Your seven-year old son was effectively using his will against yours,’ she said. 

‘In response you placed (him) in a headlock and were heard to be saying words to the effect “I’ll stop you breathing”. Your actions on this occasion raised the alarm of three independent witnesses who felt so concerned about what they had heard that police were called.’

At a previous hearing, the Herald Sun reported the boy’s face went red as he yelled for his mother, who ran to the West Melbourne apartment bedroom.

‘I can’t breathe,’ the victim said.

Nintendo rage

Nicholas Lester choked his son for gaming too long

Nicholas Lester (right) told his son he would stop him breathing after he refused to put down his Nintendo Switch (left stock image) 

Nicholas Lester works for Microsoft - the same company that makes a rival console to the Nintendo Switch. There was no suggestion Lester attacked his son because of his choice of gaming console

Nicholas Lester works for Microsoft – the same company that makes a rival console to the Nintendo Switch. There was no suggestion Lester attacked his son because of his choice of gaming console 

Ms Boult lectured Lester on the basics of parenting. 

‘Children act up, play up, resist reasonable authority – that’s what children do. That’s what they will continue to do,’ she said. 

‘As a parent it is your responsibility to never resort to an act of family violence. The buck stops with you. There is never an excuse for family violence and the court expects that you make choices that will keep your family safe no matter how angry you feel or what the circumstances are.’

The court heard the little boy had not submitted to the court a victim impact statement against his father.  

But Ms Boult accepted he must have been ‘terrified’ by his father’s abuse. 

Despite her apparent revulsion at Lester’s behaviour, the magistrate let Lester off-the-hook without recording a conviction.   

Ms Boult said she accepted Lester had suffered from depression and had taken steps to improve his mental health. 

She further accepted he had no prior convictions and that his job with Microsoft was now at risk after he was exposed as a child beater. 

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