Two teenage boys were fatally attacked with “fearsome weapons” in a case of mistaken identity after four teenagers and a man went looking for revenge when a property was damaged, a jury has heard.
Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were fatally attacked in Ilminster Avenue, in the Knowle West area of Bristol, on the evening of January 27 this year.
Bristol Crown Court heard the boys had met at Mason’s home that evening and were walking down the street outside when they were set upon by a group that had driven past them in an Audi Q2 car.
Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, described how the group – allegedly Antony Snook, 45, and Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenage boys aged 15, 16 and 17 – had gone to the area armed with “some pretty fearsome weapons”.
In CCTV images captured by a camera on Mason’s home, people can be seen leaving the vehicle and attacking Mason and Max before getting back into the car which then drives away.
The clip, lasting for two and a half minutes, was played to the jury in the trial of Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys, which opened at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday.
Mr Tully told the jury: “The case concerns a double murder. The Crown’s case is that the five defendants who sit in the dock are jointly responsible for killing two young boys.
“Those two young boys were Mason Rist, who was aged 15 at the time of his death, and Max Dixon, who was aged 16 at the time of his death.
“Mason and Max were good friends. On January 27 this year, Max called round to Mason’s home address. It was a Saturday night.
“Almost immediately upon leaving that address, as they walked onto the street they were passed by an Audi A2 car being driven by Antony Snook.
“The other four defendants were passengers in his car when he drove past the two boys.”
Mr Tully said that around an hour earlier, a property in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol had been attacked – with at least three young people throwing bricks through the windows of that address and injuring a woman.
The court heard there has been a “rivalry” between Knowle West and Hartcliffe – two parts of south Bristol – for many years.
There have previously been incidents involving people in “both postcodes”, Mr Tully said, with some people recently identifying as being in the 13s representing Hartcliffe, or the 4s, meaning the Knowle area.
He added: “It seems that the origins of this case can be traced back to those kinds of issues.”
At about 11pm, Snook, Tolliver, and three teenage boys left the area in Snook’s car, Mr Tully said.
“They were all tooled up, they had some pretty fearsome weapons,” he told the jury.
“The five occupants of the car drove from Hartcliffe to Knowle West. As they set off, we say, they were on the hunt for the people they thought were responsible for the attack on the house.
“They set off together, they were on a joint mission, and we say that was for revenge.
“As they drove past Max and Mason walking down the street, they thought they had spotted the people responsible for the earlier attack – or at the very least, people connected to it.
“They were entirely wrong about that. Max and Mason had absolutely nothing to do with any earlier incident and no connection whatsoever with those events.”
The jury were shown two machetes which Mr Tully said had been recovered following the fatal attacks.
CCTV images played to the court show the Audi car stopping alongside Max and Mason, with four figures – said to be the four teenage defendants – exiting the vehicle.
“Within a second or two of them getting out of the car, the two boys must have realised something was up,” Mr Tully said.
“We see Max and Mason turning around and trying to run away, running back towards the address they’d just left. They were chased by all four of the young defendants in the dock.
“All four were armed with weapons.”
Mr Tully said Max and Mason separated as they were chased, going to different sides of the street – with the four people chasing them also dividing up.
Tolliver and the 15-year-old boy allegedly attacked Mason, while the 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy are said to have chased Max.
The 17-year-old boy also struck Mason, who was lying injured on the ground, as he headed back to the Audi after attacking Max, Mr Tully told the jury.
Max and Mason both sustained stab wounds and died from their injuries.
Mr Tully said the prosecution’s case is that the five defendants “acted jointly and are all jointly responsible for what happened”.
“In short, we say they were in it together,” he added.
The five defendants, Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys who cannot be named because of their age, are charged with two counts of murder.
On count one, Snook, Tolliver, the 16-year-old boy and the 17-year-old boy are charged with murdering Mason together with the 15-year-old boy on January 27 2024.
Count two alleges that Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys murdered Max on the same date.
On Tuesday, nine men and three women were sworn as jurors in the case, which is due to last until the end of November.
Mrs Justice May, the trial judge, told the panel that the teenage defendants have special educational needs.
They will be assisted by intermediaries – professionals who will sit with the defendants to help explain proceedings – during the trial, she said.
Adam Vaitilingam KC represents Snook, Ignatius Hughes KC represents Tolliver, Christopher Quinlan KC represents the 17-year-old boy, Anna Vigars KC represents the 16-year-old boy, and Kate Brunner KC represents the 15-year-old boy.
The trial continues.