Five people, a man and four teenage boys, have been jailed for a crime that shocked the nation – the double murder of teen boys Max Dixon and Mason Rist in Bristol in January.
On Friday (November 15) Antony Snook, 45, and Riley Tolliver, 18, were convicted at Bristol Crown Court, alongside three teenagers who cannot be named because of their ages. The three were aged 14, 15, and 16-years-old on the night they went onto the streets of South Bristol armed with ‘fearsome’ weapons – two zombie knives and a serrated sword. They are now still aged under 18, so are the subject of a legal order on revealing their identities and faces.
Snook and Tolliver, and the now 16-year-old, didn’t physically stab either Max or Mason, but all five were convicted by a jury under the ‘joint enterprise’ law. The court had been told all five knew the intention was to drive from Hartcliffe into Knowle West that night, and kill or cause serious harm to someone. The mission was organised quickly after a house in Hartcliffe had been attacked by three yobs wearing balaclavas who threw bricks through every window and stood menacingly on the driveway wielding machetes.
Snook picked up Tolliver, 18, and the three other teenagers around an hour later, and drove to Knowle West. The four teenagers were ‘armed to the teeth’, and Snook drove them around the quiet streets looking for individuals they knew, who they were blaming for the earlier attack.
Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free here.
The court had been told Snook and the group were ‘sharking’ their way around Knowle West for around 12 minutes, going up and around the same streets a few times, before they went past Max Dixon, 16, who was calling for his friend Mason Rist, 15, at his home in Ilminster Avenue.
The best friends had nothing to do with the attack earlier – they’d been playing on their PlayStations all night and were now heading to the nearby takeaway for some food. The gang in the car saw them, spun around and Snook stopped the car.
The four teenagers jumped out and immediately set upon Max and Mason just yards from Mason’s home. The 15-year-old was stabbed once by the youngest in the gang, then battered with a baseball bat wielded by Riley Tolliver. The other two in the gang, who are now aged 16 and 17, chased Max with huge knives, and the now-17 year old stabbed him once, before running back and stabbing Mason too, as he struggled to get up.
The attack was over in 33 seconds, and the four were whisked away by Snook in his car back to Hartcliffe. A jury found all five guilty of both murders. The jury were told the four in the gang ‘acted as each others’ armed back up’, all took active roles in the attack.
They chased down Max and Mason within seconds of leaving the car, all were armed and all ‘encouraged and assisted’ in the murders – the key element of a joint enterprise crime – even if two of them didn’t stab anyone. Prosecuting, Ray Tully, told the court that it was just ‘sheer chance’ which of the four inflicted the fatal blows, as all four were as involved as each other.
The four ‘acted like a pack’, with Riley Tolliver initially taking the lead, swinging a baseball bat at Max and Mason as the first act in the attack. Snook, who never got out of his car, was a key part – without him and his wheels driving them, the attack would never have happened, Mr Tully said, adding that the boys who were running down Ilminster Avenue in Knowle West armed with machetes and an intent to kill did so with the knowledge that he was driving close behind and was ready to pick them up immediately to take them away.
Snook’s part in the murders was key, Mr Tully said. He was the adult in the situation, and could have stopped it at any time, he said. Together, Mr Tully likened the five to a ‘five-a-side team’, as a way to explain to the jury the concept of joint enterprise. He said each player in a five a side team ‘has their own parts to play’, even if ‘not all of them are the ones who scored the goals’.
Mason and Max were left dying in the road. They had been stabbed with long zombie knives and a sword, inflicting injuries they could not survive, despite the efforts of police who were quickly on the scene, paramedics and staff at Bristol’s two hospitals. The death of the best friends stunned the close-knit community in Knowle West, and wider Bristol, as well as the entire country.
Antony Snook was arrested so quickly – police simply traced his car that had been seen speeding away – that he was initially arrested on suspicion of being involved in an assault, because Max and Mason were still alive at the time. Word came through to the police van taking him into custody that Mason, and then Max, had tragically lost their lives, so the police van was stopped and halfway to the Keynsham custody centre, he was re-arrested on suspicion of murder.
Snook was from South Gloucestershire originally, and had a career as an aerospace engineer, but suffered a serious car crash 12 years ago that eventually cost him one of his legs, his job and his home, and he ended up living in a council flat in Hartcliffe. In police interviews, Snook’s story was that he had no idea where he was going, he didn’t know the four teenagers filling his car were carrying huge knives and a baseball bat, and he claimed he thought he was taking them ‘to a safe house’ because of the earlier attack on a house in Hartcliffe.
The jury, on a majority of 10-2, didn’t believe his story, ruling he was as guilty of murder as the boys who inflicted the fatal wounds. The jury also convicted Riley Tolliver of both murders, unanimously for the killing of Mason Rist, who he had battered with a baseball bat between the two stab wounds that killed him, and by a majority of 11-1 for the murder of Max Dixon, who he swung a bat at to initiate the attack.
Bristol Live WhatsApp Breaking News and Top Stories
Join Bristol Live’s WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone
Bristol Live is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.
Through the app, we’ll send the latest breaking news, top stories, exclusives and much more straight to your phone.
To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select ‘Join Community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live team.
We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.
To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘Exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.