CCTV footage shows a 16-year-old boy visited a McDonald’s in Bristol – just hours after allegedly being involved in a murderous attack on two teenage boys, a court was told.
The youngster cannot be identified for legal reasons, but is believed to have been involved in the fatal assault on Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, on January 27 this year, shortly after 11pm, in Knowle West.
The teenager is one of five defendants currently on trial at Bristol Crown Court, each charged with two counts of murder. The others include two boys aged 17 and 15, as well as 18-year-old Riley Tolliver, and Antony Snook, 45.
And in the ongoing trial today (October 15), the jury saw CCTV footage of the 16-year-old carrying a McDonald’s meal to a property in Hartcliffe, just hours after the fatal attack on Max and Mason.
Snook is alleged to have driven the four teenagers to Ilminster Avenue in an Audi Q2 car, where Mason, 15, and Max, 16, were attacked. Bristol Crown Court heard how the boys, who were good friends, were then set upon by the teenagers armed with weapons.
They had been wrongly identified as being responsible for bricks being thrown at a house in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol earlier that evening, the jury of nine men and three women has been told. Mason and Max sustained fatal stab injuries, and both died in hospital later.
The five defendants were each charged with two counts of murder. The 15-year-old boy has admitted murdering Mason, but denies murdering Max. The 17-year-old boy has admitted manslaughter relating to Max, but denies murdering him and Mason.
Snook is alleged to have driven the Audi Q2, while Tolliver and the three teenage boys are said to have been passengers, the jury previously heard.
On Tuesday, Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, took the jury through multiple CCTV clips showing the movements of some of the defendants in the hours after the attack.
Part of the footage, which was released to the media after being played in court, shows the Audi travelling along Pawlett Road minutes after the attack, before arriving at an address in Hartcliffe shortly after.
The jury were told Snook was allegedly driving, while the 17-year-old boy was first to exit the vehicle, followed by the 16-year-old, before the car is driven away.
They also saw footage of a fire being lit in the back garden, and items linked to the attack allegedly being disposed of.
Mr Tully previously told how the property in the Hartcliffe area – which he said had a “rivalry” with the Knowle West area – was targeted at about 10pm on January 27.
CCTV footage showed people outside the house holding machetes and throwing bricks at the windows. A woman was left injured in the incident.
An hour later, Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys allegedly left the Hartcliffe area in Snook’s car, armed with “fearsome weapons” and “hell-bent on revenge”, Mr Tully said.
They drove past Mason and Max, who had just left Mason’s home, and wrongly believed they had spotted those responsible for the attack.
Mr Tully previously told the jury: “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 boys were found lying fatally wounded on Ilminster Avenue, and treated at the scene by police and paramedics.
Mason was pronounced dead at Bristol Children’s Hospital at 12.49am, while Max was pronounced dead at Southmead Hospital at 1.02am. Home Office pathologist Dr Russell Delaney concluded that both boys died from stab wounds.
Snook was arrested at his home address about an hour after the incident, which took place shortly after 11pm on January 27, and the other defendants were arrested in the following days. The trial continues.