The PlayStation 4 owner accused of remotely deleting a stranger’s Destiny save file has protested his innocence, after a video of the misdeed went viral and triggered a wave of threats against him.

On Friday, footage emerged showing how one player, who goes by the online handle “Cuckooknight HD” had used the PlayStation 4’s SharePlay feature to connect with a stranger named “KirmitTHEfrog”, hoping that he would help assist on Destiny. What the video showed, however, was that when Kirmit was granted access to the PS4, he chose to not help but instead delete two of the game save files and wipe other data from the game.

The video shows Cuckoo, who had stepped away from the TV while his files were attacked, return to his seat and begin to sob after realising what had happened. The footage quickly circulated online after it was discussed by the game’s developer, Bungie, and was subsequently covered by numerous media outlets. Many in the games community expressed outrage, resulting in a surge of hateful and threatening messages sent to KirmitTHEFrog’s PSN inbox.

“We were not aware as people stopped by to visit him to see how he was doing that anyone was, as he says, ‘messing with his gaming account.'”

However, the mother of the unnamed 23 year-old who owns that account has claimed to Game Informer that it was not her son who committed the act.

The report repeats claims from the gamer’s mother that he was “unaware of what was happening on his PlayStation account.” This is because, the report suggests, that the man accused had a recent car accident and was recovering in bed while his friends were using his PS4. No evidence has emerged proving this specific claim, though police reports do show the player had been in a car accident.

In an email, the mother writes: “At the beginning of November, [my son] was hit by another driver head-on; the next couple of months he spent time recouping and finally returning to work where he spends a great deal of time to make up for lost wages and bills that piled up.

“Gaming was not on his mind. We were not aware as people stopped by to visit him to see how he was doing that anyone was, as he says, ‘messing with his gaming account.’ His PlayStation was sitting there, kids played games, others watched movies; no one assumed one of them was ‘having a good time’ at my son’s expense. And perhaps no one would have known if it did not horribly go viral.”

The accused player himself has also spoken about the incident too. Speaking with Game Informer, the anonymous person said: “I wish I knew who it was. I don’t. I was so sleepy half the time from pain medication. Why would someone do that? I guess you have to be pretty stupid or just don’t give a damn about people to do that. Glad I don’t know who it is. I am so mad and stressed for what he did to me by using my account.”