By Nakiwala Barbra
Four teenagers have been sentenced to life detention for the brutal murders of best friends Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, in a tragic case of mistaken identity in Knowle West, Bristol.
The boys were attacked with machetes near Mason’s home in January after being wrongly suspected of throwing bricks at a house in Hartcliffe. The court heard that the teens carried out the fatal attack as part of a misguided revenge plot.
Two of the convicted teens, Riley Tolliver, 18, and Kodishai Wescott, 17, were each handed a minimum of 23 years. Two younger boys, aged 15 and 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, received minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively. A fifth defendant, Anthony Snook, 45, who drove the group to the scene, was also sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 38 years. The trial exposed a rivalry between the Knowle West and Hartcliffe communities, which fueled the senseless violence.
In court, heart-wrenching victim impact statements were read by the victims’ families. Mason’s sister, Chloe Rist, held up a pouch of his ashes as she confronted the killers, describing the devastating aftermath of his death, including her grandmother’s heart attack and her own baby’s premature birth. Mason’s mother, Nikki Knight, spoke of her anguish, saying she constantly looks at the door, hoping her son will return. Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, described him as her “reason for living” and expressed her deep grief.
The murders were carried out with shocking brutality, as the attackers used weapons described as some of the most horrific seen by police. CCTV footage showed the teens jumping out of Snook’s car, attacking Max and Mason in an assault that lasted just 33 seconds before fleeing the scene. The victims succumbed to their injuries in hospital shortly after, while their killers stopped at McDonald’s. The court was told the boys had been heading to buy pizza when they were ambushed.
Speaking outside Bristol Crown Court, Mason’s uncle, David Knight, condemned the attackers, saying, “No family should ever have to go through this.” Avon and Somerset Police described the attack as “vicious” and the case as “desperate, with no winners.”
The judge, Ms. Justice May, noted that no sentence could alleviate the grief and loss endured by the victims’ families, marking a grim end to a senseless tragedy.
