Draft:The murder of Max Dixon and Mason Rist

On January 27, 2024, best friends Max Dixon (16) and Mason Shayne Rist (15) were fatally stabbed in Knowle West, Bristol, as a result of mistaken identity.

The boys were leaving Mason’s house to get pizza when an Audi pulled up and four teenagers jumped out carrying machetes and a baseball bat. The attack lasted 33 seconds, and both boys were left with unsurvivable wounds. Mason sustained a stab wound to his back, and another to his chest. Max sustained a stab wound to his right flank, and went into cardiac arrest as a result of severe blood loss. Both boys died in the early hours of January 28, 2024.

In the aftermath of the incident, the communities of Bristol came together to mourn the loss of Max and Mason. A vigil for the boys was held the day after the incident by the shops near Ilminster Avenue and two minutes of applause were held at football and rugby matches in the days which followed.

The attack was a results of the boys being mistakenly identified as the ones responsible for an attack consisting of bricks being through through a window in the Hartcliffe area. Hartcliffe and Knowle West have a long standing rivalry, and there have been previous incidents involving people from both postcodes.

After a six week trial at Bristol Crown Court, five people - four teenagers and 45-year-old Anthony Snook were convicted with two counts of murder. Snook, who was driving the Audi, was jailed for life, where he will serve a minimum of 37 years before being eligible for parole. 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 also detained for life with minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively.

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. Wescott and Ogbourne helped clean the weapons used in the attack, as well as assisting with burning clothes.

Timeline of events

Saturday January 27, 2024

10:07pm : Three men armed with machetes throw bricks at the windows of a property in Hartcliffe, injuring a woman. The attack is captured on CCTV.

10:48pm : Antony Snook, 45, and a 16-year-old return to Hartcliffe from Swindon in Snook’s Audi Q2. They had bought a mobile phone.

10:57pm : Snook, the 16-year-old and a 17-year-old leave the Hartcliffe property in Snook’s car. They pick up a 15-year-old and Riley Tolliver, 18, from a nearby street. Three are armed with machetes while Tolliver has a baseball bat. They head to the rival Knowle West district.

11:13pm : The Audi arrives in Ilminster Avenue, Knowle West.

11:13pm : Max calls round to his friend Mason’s home in Ilminster Avenue. They leave the property almost immediately. Within seconds the Audi drives past the friends, turns around, and heads back towards them.

11:14pm : The Audi stops and the four armed teenagers get out and chase after Max and Mason. The attack on the two boys lasts just 33 seconds. The car then leaves the scene. The 15-year-old and Tolliver are dropped off.

11:21pm : Snook and the 16 and 17-year-old return to the Hartcliffe property. Within minutes items of clothing are being burned in the back garden.

11:29pm : Snook arrives back at his home address on Dowling Road.

Sunday January 28, 2024

0:12am : Mason arrives at Bristol Children’s Hospital.

0:15am : Snook is arrested at his home address.

0:33am : Max arrives at Southmead Hospital.

0:49am : Mason is declared dead.

1:02am : Max is declared dead.

1:08am : The 16 and 17-year-old travel to a block of flats in a taxi. They arrive 15 minutes later.

5:07am : The 16-year-old leaves the flat.

5:22am : The 16-year-old returns carrying McDonald’s takeaway and drinks.

Victims

Max Dixon

Max Dixon was born on October 22, 2007 to Leanne Ekland. He was the youngest to three elder sister - Jade, Kayleigh and Jasmin Dixon. He was a year 11 student at Oasis Academy John Cabot, and was a popular among his friends.

Max loved football, and was the captain of his team, Park Knowle Football Club U16s. He was a good leader, and always looked out for his teammates. A memorial match between Park Knowle FC and away team Stoke Lane was held days after the attack to raise funds for Max and Mason’s family’s. His mother Leanne described his as a “real mummy’s boy”.

Since his death, his family have set up the ‘Max Dixon Foundation’ to raise money to distribute portable bleed kits. His football team have created the ‘Max Dixon Memorial Cup’. Players will be nominated who have shown the positive, supportive attitude that Max brought to his team, and the winner will be chosen by a panel of judges which include Leanne, Max’s mother.

Mason Rist

Mason Shayne Rist was born July 3, 2008, to mum Nikki and dad Shayne. Mason was also a year 11 student at Oasis Academy John Cabot.

Mason loved playing on his PlayStation, and was a huge supporter of Liverpool Football club. To commemorate this, people wore the teams colours to Mason’s funeral. Mason had plans to start collage after taking his GCSE’s, and already had his place secured.

Friendship

Max and Mason had been firm friends since the age of five, right from the moment when they took their first steps through the doors of the same nursery close to their Bristol homes. They attended the same junior and secondary schools together, always remaining firm friends. They spent their free time away from school chatting with one another, gaming on the PlayStation or popping over to each other's houses. They also shared a love of football. Max played for Sunday league team Park Knowle FC, while Mason was known to be a huge Liverpool fan.

Following news of their deaths, a two-minute applause was held during the Championship clash between Bristol City and Leeds United in tribute to the boys.

Investigation

The investigation into the death’s of Max and Mason was led by Gary Haskins. Haskins has since been recognised in the King’s New Year Honours list.

Within minutes of the attack, uniformed police officers who has been nearby were on the scene. Within 10 minutes, officers had identified the vehicle used by Snook and the teens. Due Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), they were able to track the vehicle, and 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 died in hospital within 15 minutes of each other.

Snook refused to give up the names of the four teenage attackers, so police launched a search. Eventually, through a combination of police work, CCTV analysis, help from the community and association charts, the four boys were found and taken into custody.

Spanning the course of 11 months, around 300 officers were involved from across Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.  Officers from the Major Crime Investigation Team, with support from the Neighbourhood Policing Team, CID, Response, as well as specialist teams like the firearms, dogs and drone units, were also involved. Police visited more than 300 addresses, took 468 statements and received 113 intelligence reports. They interviewed 45 people and submitted 5,819 documents to the court.  

Aftermath

The family who run the football club Max was a part of are on a mission to not only raise money for bleeds kits, but also to make the training of how to effectively use them a standard part of the school curriculum. Carly Kingdon set up an online petition which already has more than a thousand signatures. Blue t-shirts outlining this campaign are becoming a familiar sight around Knowle West and other parts of Bristol. Carly was invited to 10 Downing Street to discuss the idea.