..."Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" keep going around my head?

Do we happen to know if the kid happened to try out the hardware pandora hack which involves taking a stanley knife to the battery? Same thing happened to me when i tried that...

Wasn't it Sony batteries that were in the grenading Dell laptops? Never had a problem with my Panasonic powered XPS :)

The PSP is HOT!

PSP declared hottest system!

Burnout Legends, be careful kids, it'll burn a hole in your pocket!

Penny burns hole in pocket, PSP dies in blaze?

etc....

All in bad taste I am sure, but this is a godsend to corny headline writers.

"The youngster was taken to hospital for treatment but was able to return to school later that day."

I'm not convinced I'd make it back to work the same day if my trousers went up in flames. Maybe I'm a wimp.

Judging by the photo, that's the battery compartment. Looks like either a dodgy cheap imported battery or badly wired Pandora battery gone wrong.

Could this be a prototype test? I know a few teachers how would love a gadget that could ignite batteries in mobile phones, PSPs etc.

I wonder if the battery was an official Sony battery or some chinese knock-off, as is usually the case in instances such as this. If it is some cheap battery, the family will likely have no luck with Sony, whom the article reports they will be contacting, because it's not up to them what other brands do.

I'd expect at least the rest of the day off if I'd been in hospital being treated for burns. Hey, I'd be angling for the rest of the week off!

I found it hard to tell from the photo - was it the slim & lite or the older kind of psp?

"Eff eff eff eff eff ef"

Scorchio!

Yup, the firesale coat for me...

Why did the little ### have a PSP at school in the first place.

ohh dear...

The coats for you...

Definitely a PSP Fat and Heavy. Wouldn't be surprised if it was a cheap imported battery or a hardware modded Pandora battery.

It's obvious (to me at least, the Anonymous Coward that I am) ... Sweat is salty, highly conductive water.... the kid was hiding the PSP in his pocket ... sweat got into the battery contacts (yes, 12-yr-olds do start to sweat like an adult, it's all part of the puberty thing), short circuit in the shorts, and that's all she wrote!

If it was needed to show that Sony is on their side...

Sure blame the PSP, my guess is he told his teacher that his dog ate his homework prior to his pants being on fire....

Mines the Armani ....honest....

... or are you just happy to see me?

PANTS ON FIRE

I've got a "Fat & Heavy" PSP with its original battery which does get very warm during use. Is this a symptom of old age? The battery's, not mine!

... reminds me of a sketch from the Clithero Kid.

It's how AL queda plans to get the kids

Now we will not be able to take PSP's on airplanes either. Good thing the kid was playing games at school, it might have burnt his house down if it were left at home.

If he was using a cheap battery his penny-pinching has come back to haunt him. If he was trying to use a Pandora battery for normal use purposes he was being stupid. If he was just unlucky Murphy's Law has that much more proof. If his mum starts a campaign to ban PSPs or the FAA decides they're now too dangerous to take on planes, I think I'm going to weep for humanity (again).

How can you people be so insensitive? The boy, Harold Clay, was burned rather badly. In fact, it will be cheaper for lawyers to change his name to Carol Clay than it will for doctors to repair his burned bits.

Turns out the battery was the real-deal and not a knock-off. Another mistake by Sony....

Anyone still hardwiring a Pandora battery deserves to catch fire.

It's all about the software baby.

That is my coat....the one full of warez and psp apps.

Will the next game for the PSP be a Hindenburg flight simulator?

His pockets full of crackers.

A spark went up his trouser leg.

A blew off both his kn.....

Mines the flame-proof over jacket with the deep pockets.