Four teenagers and a 45-year-old man have been convicted of murdering two boys whom they had mistaken for the perpetrators of an earlier attack on a house in Bristol linked to a long-running postcode rivalry.
Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were fatally attacked with machetes in the Knowle West area of the city on the evening of 27 January.
Bristol crown court heard the group of five defendants – Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 15, 16 and 17 – had driven to the area in Snook’s Audi with “some pretty fearsome weapons”.
Mason and Max sustained fatal stab injuries, and both died in hospital in the early hours of 28 January.
One of the teenagers picked up a McDonald’s meal and drinks six hours after the attack, the court heard.
On Friday, the jury found all five defendants guilty of the murders of both boys. The 15-year-old defendant, who was 14 at the time of the attack, had already pleaded guilty to the murder of Mason, while the 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time of the killings, had also admitted manslaughter in the case of Max but denied murdering either boy.
The families of the victims cheered and embraced in the court as the first of the guilty verdicts were read out. Some of the verdicts were agreed on a majority basis.
In statements released after the verdict, the families said the boys had known each other since nursery school, adding: “Today’s outcome doesn’t change the fact that two families go home without their boys.”
The group was seeking revenge for an attack on a house in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol, in which windows were smashed and a woman was injured, but they were “entirely wrong” in thinking Mason and Max were responsible, the court heard.
The origin of the events in the case could be linked to a rivalry of many years between Hartcliffe, or BS13, and Knowle, or BS4, the jury was told.
Snook left the Hartcliffe with two of the boys and picked up the other two in a nearby street before heading to Knowle West. The Audi Q2 was driven around Knowle West for at least 12 minutes before the attack, the jury was told.
Snook drove down Ilminster Avenue and when they saw Mason and Max in the street they wrongly believed they had spotted those responsible for the attack.
Tolliver, who had a baseball bat, and the three teenagers armed with machetes jumped out of the car and chased after the two boys. Max and Mason are seen going to different sides of the street, each pursued by two people from the vehicle.
The attack was captured by a CCTV camera on Mason’s home in footage lasting two and a half minutes that was played to the jury. Just 33 seconds passed from the car pulling up to the teenagers getting back in and leaving.
Snook drove the teenagers from the scene and dropped them off in Knowle West. Meanwhile, the 16-year-old boy picked up a McDonald’s meal and drinks six hours after the attack.
Mrs Justice May, the trial judge, said Snook, 45, would be sentenced on 19 November at Bristol crown court, while the other four defendants would be sentenced on 16 December following the preparation of pre-sentence reports.
Mason’s family said: “It is impossible to put into words how we feel. This whole process has been incredibly hard and hearing what we have heard, what happened to him, it is horrible to think about Mason’s last moments.
“These dangerous individuals took away our son, brother, nephew, uncle and grandchild and we must now navigate the rest of our lives without our missing puzzle piece.”
Max’s family said: “Max was a big character with a happy and joyful look on life. He was funny, kind and caring. He was a huge part of the family and was very popular among his friends. He was full of life and had such a cheeky side, but was always respectful.
“The past six weeks have been emotionally draining. Today’s outcome doesn’t change the fact that two families go home without their boys. But we can now hopefully begin to process and remember them both and the happy memories both families have of Max and Mason.”
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