Four teenagers have been handed life sentences for the murder of Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, in Bristol earlier this year.
Riley Tolliver, 18, and Kodi-Shai Wescott, 17, received life sentences with minimum terms of 23 years each.
Two younger defendants, aged 15 and 16, were also sentenced to life imprisonment, with minimum terms of 15 years and 229 days, and 18 years and 44 days, respectively.
A fifth individual, 45-year-old Antony Snook, who acted as the group’s getaway driver, was also convicted of murder and sentenced in November to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 38 years.
Snook and the armed teenagers drove around Knowle West, looking for masked youths who earlier attacked a house in the Hartcliff area. They spotted Max and Mason and wrongly identified them as the perpetrators of the attack.
Tolliver, carrying a baseball bat, and the three teenagers armed with machetes jumped out of the car and chased after the two boys.
In CCTV footage, Max and Mason are seen going to different sides of the street, each pursued by two of the males from the vehicle. The attack lasted just 33 seconds from Snook’s Audi Q2 car pulling up, to the teenagers getting back in and leaving.
Max and Mason were left lying fatally injured on the street and were both pronounced dead in hospital in the early hours of Jan. 28.
Mrs. Justice May addressed the defendants, saying: “You were part of a group who attacked and killed two boys. The boys you killed were Mason Rist and Max Dixon. They were your age. They had done nothing wrong.”
She added that Max and Mason, who were heading out for a pizza when they were spotted, “had nothing to do” with the incident in the Hartcliff area.
Family Statements
Chloe Rist, the sister of Mason, has described her brother, who had been diagnosed with autism at the age of 3, as “vulnerable and harmless.”In a victim personal statement, read to the court on Thursday, she revealed the “ripple effect” of his loss, including her grandmother suffering a heart attack and her baby being born prematurely.
During her statement, she held up packets containing Mason’s ashes, a piece of his hair, and a hand print taken after his death.
Addressing the defendants, she said: “This is Mason’s ashes, and this is what you’ve done. If anyone is upset that I brought them to court, this is all I have left of him.”
“I should be able to hold my brother’s hand, not look at it on a piece of paper. I hope your apologies are genuine, but I can’t be sure. I hope you don’t forget Mason—he didn’t deserve any of this.”
During the sentencing hearing in November, Kayleigh, Max’s sister, said her brother was “kind” and “special.”
Defence Arguments
On Thursday, Anna Vigars, KC, representing the 16-year-old defendant, said her client has a low IQ and clinical signs of mental health disorders. She highlighted the impact of his challenging home life and exposure to community tensions and rivalries in Bristol from an early age.On Monday, barristers for Tolliver and the 15-year-old defendant expressed apologies to the families of Max and Mason.
Ignatius Hughes, KC, representing Tolliver, shared a handwritten letter in which Tolliver apologised for his actions, saying he deeply regretted getting into the car that night.
Kate Brunner, KC, representing the 15-year-old, said her client was deeply sorry and had written a letter with the help of a support worker.
She described him as having a mental age of 8-and-a-half and being indoctrinated into a violent environment where carrying weapons was normalised.
Christopher Quinlan, KC, representing Wescott, described his client’s upbringing as bleak and lacking love or structure. He said the teenager regrets the harm caused and thinks about it every day.
