'Murder investigation will live with us forever'

Five people - four teenagers and a 45-year-old man - have now been sentenced for the murders of two best friends, Max Dixon and Mason Rist. The stabbing took place yards from Mason's front door in a case of mistaken identity. The attack horrified communities living and working in south Bristol, including those sent to investigate.

Det Supt Gary Haskins' job is to investigate murders. As head of the major crime investigation team he is told about all of them in the Avon and Somerset area.

But the murder of 15-year-old Mason Rist and his best friend Max Dixon, 16, will stay with him and his team forever.

"This was one of those investigations that is thankfully not an every day, not an every year, not an every lifetime [occurrence]," he said.

"This is an investigation that will live with me and my colleagues for the rest of our careers and lives."

Det Supt Haskins first received the call about Max and Mason's stabbing on a Sunday morning - the day after they were attacked at about 23:00 GMT on Saturday 27 January.

The boys had been knifed down in the street with machetes, just yards from Mason's front door in Knowle West.

"I'm a human being, I'm a parent. These were two boys going about their business, just out being friends," Det Supt Haskins said.

"They were attacked with probably some of the most horrific weapons I've ever seen in my career."

The boys were murdered by four teenagers who were seeking revenge after a separate incident in Hartcliffe - which Max and Mason had absolutely nothing to do with.

On Thursday, Riley Tolliver, 18, and 17-year-old Kodishai Wescott were told they would each be detained for a minimum of 23 years.

A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were detained for life with minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively.

Anthony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, who drove the teenagers around Knowle West "hunting" for a victim to exact violence on, was sentenced last month to a minimum of 38 years in prison.

Gary Haskins took the lead for the investigation on the Monday morning after the attack. But his colleagues had been on the scene within minutes and even had a suspect in custody within an hour.

"This is one of the most significant investigations I have had to lead," he said.

Immediately after the stabbing, uniformed officers - who had been around the corner at another incident - were on the scene.

Within 10 minutes, officers had identified the vehicle used by Snook and the teens.

"Thanks to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), we were able to track the vehicle," Det Supt Haskins explained.

"Within 59 minutes, Anthony Snook was in custody."

While in the back of the police van, officers had to stop to update Snook that the offence he had been arrested for had been changed to murder, after the boys - who died within 15 minutes of each other - were unable to be saved.

Snook had driven the four teenagers back to a house in Hartcliffe, where they disposed of pieces of evidence, before they "scattered" across south Bristol and into Somerset.

But while police had Snook in custody, he was not going to give up the others involved.

"Snook wasn't forthcoming giving us any names," Det Supt Haskins said.

"There was a relentless search for them. Where we thought they'd be, we would attend.

"We would knock on doors. If those doors didn't open and we believed they were in there we would effect entry."

Det Supt Haskins said while the teenagers - who were unknown to them - tried to evade the police, they used "all the powers and the force of the constabulary" to catch them.

About 300 officers were involved from across Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

The strength of dedication to get justice for the two best friends meant that members of Det Supt Haskins' team would have to be forced to go home.

Eventually, through a combination of "good old fashioned detective work", CCTV analysis, help from the community and association charts, the boys were found.

"They knew we were coming and we weren't going to stop until they were in custody," Det Supt Haskins said.

"We were simply chasing them down until we found them."

The subsequent trial lasted six weeks at Bristol Crown Court, where the five defendants were all found guilty of murder.

"The attack was brief in its nature, but horrifically violent," Det Supt Haskins said.

"They all acted together. They armed themselves together, they travelled together, they travelled back from the attack together, and they were intent on causing harm to whoever they came across.

"This is a joint enterprise. That's a really significant fact not to forget.

"They didn't attack the two boys for who they were, they attacked them because of where they were. And they attacked as a collective."

As a parent himself, Gary Haskins expressed concern about the future of youth violence and the broader societal implications.

"I worry about the future," he said.

"But we have an opportunity as police officers, as paramedics, as emergency services, to leave some form of a positive legacy to this horrible, horrible, event."

And he remains committed to his role, using his position to help prevent future tragedies.

"Every day I think 'What were they thinking?'," he reflected.

"Looking at the weapons, looking at their actions, looking at the way they drove around Knowle West trying to find a victim.

"There's no winners in this. There are countless families damaged for life that can never recover from this incident."

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