Two murdered boys in 'revenge attack' were victims of mistaken identity, court hears

Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were fatally stabbed in the street in Bristol after they were wrongly identified as the people responsible for an earlier attack.

In a tragic case of mistaken identity, two innocent teenage boys were brutally murdered in what has been described as a 'revenge attack', a court heard.

Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, found themselves caught up in a deadly 'postcode rivalry' and were fatally stabbed on the street after being wrongly identified as the perpetrators of an earlier assault. The court was informed that just an hour prior to this, a house in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol had been attacked, with bricks thrown through windows and injuring a woman inside.

Prosecutors allege that the five defendants currently on trial for murder then armed themselves, fuelled by revenge, and drove to the neighbouring suburb of Knowle in search of those they believed responsible

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The jury was told of previous 'incidents' between the Hartcliffe BS13 and Knowle BS4 postcodes, which played a part in the tragic events that unfolded. The court was shown CCTV footage of driver Anthony Snook circling in his Audi before stopping when he spotted Max and Mason.

Further footage showed the four other defendants, passengers in the vehicle, exiting the car and chasing the two boys, who were subsequently stabbed and died from their injuries. Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, all deny the charges of murder.

Opening the prosecution's case at Bristol Crown Court, Mr Ray Tully KC stated the individuals were complicit and jointly liable for the murder of Max and Mason, who were unrelated to an earlier assault. He explained: "Max called round to Mason's home address and two of them had met up at 11.15 that evening.

"Almost immediately the two of them left the address and as they walked out onto the street they were passed by an Audi car driven by Anthony Snook. The other four defendants were passengers in his car. A little earlier that evening, about an hour earlier, there had been an incident where a property had been attacked.

"That was the home address of one of the passengers in the car. Three people had turned up at the address and were responsible for attacking it by throwing bricks at the home. They had broken some windows and a mum had been injured as a result of bricks thrown.

"Following that attack, various people were going to the house that had been attacked - they included Anthony Snook."

The courtroom was informed that he subsequently left to gather some others before the five accused embarked in the car.

Tully went on to say: "They were tooled up and had pretty fearsome weapons with them.

"As the five set off - they were on the hunt - out looking for people they thought had been responsible for the attack on the house."

"They set off together on a joint mission - that joint mission was one of revenge."

Mr Tully described a tragic sequence of events in Knowle, stating: "They thought they had spotted the people they believed responsible for the attack on the house - or at least connected with it in some way."

He continued, clarifying a devastating error: "They were entirely wrong about that - Max and Mason had nothing whatsoever to do with the attack on the property."

The court heard how Anthony Snook, after observing Max and Mason exit a house, turned his car around and stopped alongside them. In distressing scenes caught on CCTV footage shown to the jury, the two boys are seen leaving Mason's residence, only to be pursued by several individuals emerging from Snook’s Audi.

The footage goes on to document the horrific moment where Max is chased off-camera. Mr Tully added: "It makes for difficult viewing, what we are looking at is the attack on the two boys - what we know to be the effective stabbing."

According to Mr Tully, both teens succumbed to their injuries, stating: "Both were stabbed and were to die from injuries they received" and emphasized the prosecutor's position: "The prosecution case is what you can see is the murder of both boys - Max and Mason - at the hands of these defendants - and it is all happening right outside Mason's front door - captured on his own home CCTV footage."

He concluded by reinforcing the allegation that each of the four teenagers was armed and that Snook had acted as their "getaway" driver, deliberately "waited" for them post-assault.

He stated: "Whilst we recognise and understand the desire to try and be specific about who did what exactly and who did what role - we suggest ultimately it is of limited importance.

"They were acting together, acting as a pack, shared a common pact. They chased after two boys they mistakenly thought were responsible for the earlier attack - as they wanted to attack both of them. They wanted at the very least to really hurt both boys - this was an attack based on a desire for revenge. They were armed and wanted to inflict serious harm on those they thought responsible."

Mr Tully said the trial will examine what each of them were doing and why they were there. He added: "Each of these defendants accepts they were present when Max and Mason were killed."

"Each of them has pleaded not guilty - they say they are not responsible for murdering Max and Mason. The prosecution case is they acted jointly - they were all jointly responsible for what took place. In the street, each of them played different roles - but we say they were involved in the attacks together - and in it together, acting together."

Mr Tully highlighted that an 'underlying' feature of the origins of the attack was a "rivalry" in two parts of south Bristol in the two areas concerned that were often known by their postcodes "BS13 Hartcliffe and BS4 Knowle."

He mentioned that in the past there had been incidents and said "sadly" some of this seems to have underlying origins in the story of what happened in this case.

The trial continues.

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