Two jailed for boys' mistaken murders cover-up

Two men have been jailed for helping to cover up the murders of teenagers Max Dixon and Mason Rist - best friends who were killed in a case of mistaken identity in January.

Bailey Wescott, 23, of Whitchurch, and Jamie Ogbourne, 27, of Hartcliffe, were both jailed for five years and three months at Bristol Crown Court after both previously admitted two counts of assisting an offender.

The families of Max, 16, and Mason, 15, wept in court as the judge read the sentences.

In November, Antony Snook, 45, was jailed for life with a minimum of 38 years for the murders, while Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys, 17, 16 and 15, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be sentenced on Thursday.

Max and Mason had been wrongly identified as being masked youths who had thrown bricks at a house in the rival Hartcliffe area earlier that evening.

The court was shown CCTV images of Wescott and Ogbourne tending a fire they had lit in order to conceal items of clothing linked to the attack.

The court also heard that Ogbourne gave one of the boys a burner phone so they could stay in contact.

Sentencing the pair, Ms Justice May said: "The fire was to destroy evidence, which would have had DNA and blood from Max and Mason.

Addressing Ogbourne, she said: "You both destroyed key evidence, giving money and a burner phone to [the defendants].

"You gave assistance to two offenders, not just one.

"I reject the accounts you gave to the police.

"Bailey Wescott, you haven't been charged with murder, but having seen all the evidence, I am sure you were well aware it was a revenge trip.

"You sent messages and you had influence over boys much younger than you.

"What did you do to stop it? Nothing."

She added: "In my view it would be hard to find a more serious example of assisting an offender than this."

Senior Investigating Officer Det Supt Gary Haskins, from the major crime investigation team at Avon and Somerset Police, said: "Ogbourne and Wescott, two adults, came to the aid of the four teenage defendants and attempted to cover the murderers' tracks by cleaning the weapons and disposing of clothes.

"They knew what they were doing and the implications of their actions, they showed no regard for the lives lost by attempting to help the defendants get away with their crimes.

"I hope their sentence shows the severity of what they did and why we will make every effort to hunt out anyone who aids and abets crime to take place."

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