Getaway driver jailed for life over teens' murders

A man who drove four teenagers on a revenge mission that led to two best friends being murdered has been jailed for life.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died after being stabbed by the teenagers in a case of mistaken identity outside Mason's home in Knowle West, Bristol, on 27 January.

Antony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, tried to claim he had been oblivious to their plan but a jury rejected this defence and found him guilty of the murders. He will now serve a minimum of 38 years in jail.

Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys, aged 17, 16 and 15, were also found guilty of murder and will be sentenced on 16 December.

Sentencing Snook at Bristol Crown Court, the honourable Mrs Justice May told him there had been multiple opportunities to "stop this madness, to lock the car doors... or to have refused to leave Hartcliffe with them in the first place".

She said: "You were the only adult.

"You were so weak and cowardly to lend yourself to the revenge scheme of others."

She added that it was "impossible to fathom" why he had agreed to drive the four boys in his car to the area.

"You would have experienced the atmosphere in that car, felt the blood lust. Mason and Max, tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.

Members of Max and Mason’s families wept and embraced after the sentence was passed while Snook remained emotionless.

Boxes of tissues were passed along the jury bench and handed out to the families as their impact statements were read.

Mason’s sister, Chloe took to the witness box as she talked about the close bond she and her brother shared.

At one point she turned her whole body to address Snook. He held her gaze through the glass, dipping his head slightly.

She said: "Although I haven’t seen any remorse or regret, it must weigh heavy on you that you got the wrong boy, a mistake that has cost us all so dearly.

"Mason wasn’t your enemy. He could have been your friend, but now he’s your victim."

It was a really hard listen. Det Supt Gary Haskins, who has led this double murder investigation, listened with his head in his hands.

Just before leaving the witness box, Chloe turned to the jury with tears streaming down her face, thanking them for bringing justice to her brother.

Max’s mum Leanne hung her head and sobbed as she listened to Snook being sentenced to 38 years.

He’s currently 45 and it didn’t take him or anyone very long to realise he will be 83 when he’s freed, so the real possibility is he’ll die in prison.

Tolliver, of Weston-Super-Mare, and the three youngest defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been driven to and from Knowle West by Snook.

Seconds after Max and Mason left Mason's house at about 23:00 GMT, they were wrongly identified by the group as being responsible for bricks being thrown at a house in Hartcliffe earlier that evening.

CCTV cameras captured Snook's Audi Q2 pulling on to Ilminster Avenue where the four youngest defendants then jumped out, wielding large machetes and a baseball bat.

The friends were ambushed in an attack that lasted just 33 seconds, while Snook sat waiting in his parked car with the lights off.

The teenagers then got back into Snook's car, which performed a U-turn in the street and sped away, leaving the boys collapsed in the street.

The friends died in hospital within 15 minutes of each other in the early hours of the next morning.

During the sentencing hearing, statements prepared by the mothers and sisters of Max and Mason were read to the court.

Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, summarised the statement from Nikki Knight, the mother of Mason, describing how the attack on her son took place outside their home.

"She, as a mother, feels she failed to protect her son. That is a thought that will stay with her," he said.

"Ultimately, she says when trying to find words to put her emotions and feelings down on paper, it is an impossible task."

Leanne Ekland, Max Dixon's mother, told the court she had rushed to the road where her son was stabbed and cradled him as he lay fatally injured on the pavement.

"He looked at me and said he wanted to sleep, he was so pale," she said.

"The pain was unbearable. I knew then my life had been changed and my heart ripped out. I have never felt so much pain."

Chloe Rist, Mason's sister, told the court how their family had been overprotective of him "because he was so vulnerable and harmless".

She said: "I beat myself up that I didn't stop him going out.

“Mason doesn’t like confrontation. I know he would have been really scared that night, not knowing why this was happening to him.

“He tried to come home, he was so close but he didn’t make it.”

Ms Rist described how she could no longer play tag with her children after seeing her little brother "run for his life" on the CCTV footage and felt unable to return to their family home just feet away from the crime scene.

Max's sister, Kayleigh Dixon, broke down in tears as she addressed Snook directly in court.

She said: "I want you to know that you killed me that day. I can't sleep. I want you to know how much you have traumatised me.

"I do not believe I will fully recover and I hope that justice will be served and you will spend the rest of your life suffering."

Senior investigating officer Det Supt Gary Haskins said Snook’s defence was "fanciful" and a "complete fabrication in a bid to escape conviction".

He added: “Snook was the adult in that situation. He should have taken responsibility and stopped the four other defendants from committing such a heinous crime.

“Snook played the role of the facilitator and the getaway driver.

"He drove them around Knowle like a pack on the hunt, before turning into Ilminster Avenue.

"He then saw the attack play out and then drove them away from the scene. If it wasn't for him, the boys may well still be alive."

During the sentencing, Mrs Justice May added: “Mason, 15, and Max, 16, had been best friends for a long time. These were two good boys from loving homes with their whole lives ahead of them.

“Best friends who went out together for a walk on a Saturday night and never came home again.”

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