One of the teenage defendants in the double murder trial told a friend that he heard 15-year-old Mason Rist screaming as he was being attacked outside his home, a jury has been told.
The 16-year-old defendant also gave, what the prosecution said today (Tuesday), ‘amounted to a confession’ that he was guilty of both murders, in a meeting with a friend that was covertly recorded ten weeks after Mason and his best friend Max Dixon were fatally stabbed in Knowle West earlier this year.
The 16-year-old, who was 15 at the time of the attack, was visited by a friend and another adult back in April, and was recorded talking about what had happened, the court was told.
The recording, a transcript of which had been allowed as agreed evidence in the case, included the teenage defendant telling his friend that he put on ‘loads more tracksuits’ and left his phone behind, before he got in a car and was driven to Knowle West to take part in the attacks that left Max and Mason dead.
In his summing up at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday (November 5), Ray Tully, prosecuting, said what the 16-year-old – who cannot be named because of his age – told his friend ‘amounted to a confession’ to the two charges of murder, even though he didn’t actually inflict any of the fatal wounds that killed Max and Mason.
The 16-year-old has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to two counts of murder. His fellow defendants Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and two other teenagers aged 15 and 17, have also pleaded ‘not guilty’ to two counts of murder, but the 15 year old has pleaded ‘guilty’ to the murder of Mason, and the 17-year-old has admitted to Max’s manslaughter.
Mr Tully said the 16-year-old was ‘as guilty’ as the other defendants because he was armed and joined in the chase and attack that evening. He said that in the recording, he told his friend he ‘deliberately’ left his phone behind before leaving to go to Knowle West because he had ‘a feeling something was going down’.
“Just thinking about that, he’s (at the time) a 15-year-old kid leaving his phone behind,” Mr Tully told the jury. “We say he was doing that because he was fully aware he was heading out on an attack. He had the wherewithal to leave his phone behind. He’s expecting trouble, that there will be trouble, and it will be serious, and the police will be involved, and he wants to make sure he’s not traced or leaves a digital footprint.”
Mr Tully said that the transcript of the recording also showed the 16-year-old told his friend: “I’ve worn loads more tracksuits because I just knew, I just thought…” which Mr Tully said indicated that he was either putting on more clothes for protection, or to be able to get rid of forensic evidence.
“He witnessed the stabbings of Max and Mason,” said Mr Tully. “What he told his mate who went to see him was ‘I could hear him screaming’. The ‘him’ in that is Mason. He was able to hear the scream when Riley (Tolliver) was beating him with a bat. So at that moment, the 16-year-old was continuing his pursuit of Max.
“He goes on to state: ‘I seen it all happen, but I couldn’t sit and watch it happen, I just had to sort of join in.’ There he is, from his own mouth, telling you he’s guilty. It’s a confession, we would suggest. He knew what was happening and he joined in with it,” added Mr Tully.
“You can see him at the head of that group getting out of the car, hiding that weapon, joining in the chase,” he said.
Addressing the case against the 16-year-old, Mr Tully said: “There’s no evidence that he caused the fatal injuries to Mason or the injury to Max. He was a secondary party in the murder of both boys. He was part and parcel of a joint attack in which he associated with the others. What did he bring to the party? What did he do to encourage and assist the others who were the principal?
“He moved with some purpose towards those two boys. He is fully contributing to that sense of strength in armed numbers. If he does nothing else, then he’s acting as armed back up. He’s at the forefront as they moved towards Max and Mason. He is involved in the chase of those two boys
“All the time he’s armed with that big knife. He chooses to provide specific backup to the 17-year-old. He even tries at one stage to stab Max. He only gave up his pursuit of Max for one reason, and that’s because that Range Rover came along,” he added.
“It all shows his willingness, his wish, his desire to be involved in the joint attack. He wanted to leave his own mark. He was on the pitch, he wanted to score a goal as well. His armed presence, his involvement in the chase, all demonstrate that he was providing assistance and encouragement,” Mr Tully added.
Earlier in the day, the judge in the case, Mrs Justice May, gave the jury directions on the legal definitions of a ‘joint endeavour’, as well as giving the jury a ‘route to verdict’, by answering a list of questions about each of the defendants on both counts. That includes the potential that the jury could come to verdicts of manslaughter.
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