The mother of a boy murdered in an unprovoked attack in Bristol has said she loses her son ‘every single day’. Leanne Ekland said the only time she stop thinking about her son Max Dixon is when she goes to sleep, but then wakes up and ‘reality hits again and I lose him all over again’.
Leanne was speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning (December 10), ahead of the sentencing of the four teenagers who were found guilty of the murder of her son Max Dixon, 16 and his best friend Mason Rist, 15, in Knowle in January. Max’s mum said the case should serve as a warning to young people not to get involved with knives or violence, because two of the teenagers involved are facing life in prison next week even though they didn’t stab anyone.
Leanne Ekland, who appeared on the sofa with her daughter Kayleigh, also spoke of the Max Dixon Foundation, which has been set up by the family and Park Knowle FC, where Max was the under-16s captain, to raise money for portable bleed kits and training.
Speaking of her loss, Leanne said: “I feel every day I lose him all over again. I think about him first thing in the morning, I think about him constantly throughout the day, and then when I go to bed.
“The only time I can switch off is when I actually fall asleep, and then I wake up, and reality hits again, and I lose him all over again. I didn’t just lose him that night. I lose him every single day.”
Leanne worked at Oasis Academy John Williams in Hengrove, where both Max and Mason attended, and she described how he would not be embarrassed to be seen with her. “I work in the same school as Max and there’s times where I’ve walked out of school and I’ve been arm in arm with him and he’s just walked through all his mates,” she said.
“Everyone knew that I was Max’s mum and that made me really proud because a lot of teenagers obviously are quiet shy in that way, but Max was never embarrassed.
“I want everyone to know that Max was a great character, full of joy,” added Leanne. “Every day he was such a happy child, he was never a stroppy teenager. He was very funny, there was never a dull moment with Max around. And you always heard Max before you saw him, as soon as I walked through the door, when I finished work, I could hear him running down the stairs, he was so clumsy, but he was just an absolute delight to be around.
“He absolutely loved to make everyone laugh, and have a joke and a giggle. He was just full of life, you know normal teenagers are stropping around, but we never had that with Max,” she said.
Big sister Kayleigh admitted Max was ‘annoying, obviously’, but was very loving. “He had such a great character, he was really loving, and we used to pin him down when he was a kid, put make up on him. He was a big big character and it’s really quiet without him now, the world’s gone silent,” she said.
The unprovoked attack at the start of the year on Max and Mason lasted just 33 seconds and left them with fatal stab wounds right outside Mason’s home on the night of Saturday, January 27. The pair had been playing on their Playstations that night in their own homes but decided to meet up to go to the local takeaway.
As soon as they stepped out of Mason’s front gate, they were chased and stabbed by a gang of four teenagers, who had been driven around Knowle by Antony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, looking for a group who had attacked a house in Hartcliffe an hour earlier. Max and Mason had nothing to do with that attack, and their murders were a case of mistaken identity.
A jury decided all five were guilty of murder under joint enterprise laws, as they assisted and encouraged the two teenagers who actually inflicted the fatal stab wounds by driving and chasing the two best friends. Max’s mum Leanne said this should send a message to any young person who is around knives and people with knives that they could be held responsible too.
“It’s a strong message what happened with Max and Mason because that night only one person attacked my son, but there was five held accountable for his murder,” she said. “And I think that sends out a big message to everybody that just because you didn’t actually do the physical attack, you were actually there, or you’re encouraging it or you’re chasing, you can end up with a murder charge, and I think it sends out a strong message what happened with Max and Mason,” she added.
“You don’t have to do anything, the adult of the group didn’t even get out of his car and he was still found guilty of both of their murders. I think what my aim is if this changes one person’s view and make them actually think about what they are going to do, and say it’s not worth it. What I’m doing today (appearing on BBC Breakfast) is so out of my comfort zone, I obviously wish I was at home and not having to do this. But if that one person changes their mind and thinks twice about doing it, then I’ve done what I need to do,” she said.
Antony Snook was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum term of 38 years last month. The four teenagers – Riley Tolliver, 18, and three others who can’t be named because they are under 18 – will be sentenced next Monday, December 16.
Mason’s mum Nikki has not been able to watch the CCTV of the attack – captured on a camera on her own house – but Leanne said she felt she wanted to. “It’s terrible to watch it really is but it needs that impact to be out there. They were just two innocent boys,” she said. “They should have been able to go and have some food when I see them walk out of the gates, and see them smiling, they had no idea what was going to happen to them and I needed to see that. I understand why people didn’t want to, but for me personally I wanted to know what Max had gone through.
“No family should have to have gone through what we’ve gone through and what Mason’s family have gone through. We’ve been destroyed and we are never going to repair. Eventually we will move on and will make a life for ourselves, but it’s still not the same now. We do a family birthday meal and it’s so quiet. It’s not the same,” she said.
Max’s family and his friends at his football club have now set up the Max Dixon Foundation, aiming to raise money and awareness for portable bleed kits that can be carried in the glove boxes of cars.
Together For Change Aims
Set up a task force – We will develop a community-driven task force to meet and discuss the issue, how best to tackle it and how we can make a real difference with those in power.
Getting knives off the street – We will work with the campaigners to raise awareness of initiatives designed to get knives off the streets.
Social media – We will look at the Online Safety Bill and see if it goes far enough where it comes to harmful knife-related content on social media and how easy it is for children to see.
Raise awareness – We will work together to raise the awareness of how knife crime is linked to poverty, education, employment, social exclusion and the collapse in youth services
Lobby the government -We will cover the issue in the context of the General Election, using our findings from the taskforce and our reporting to lobby for change
Hold power to account – We will scrutinise and hold Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council to account on their plans and models to make Bristol safer
“So obviously Max played for Park Knowle FC and they’ve known him since he was a baby,” said Leanne. “We just wanted to do something, and they came up with the idea of a bleed kit, and there’s plenty of bleed kits out there and people might ask what’s the difference with Max’s bleed kits and other bleed kits out there, but it doesn’t matter what bleed kit you use, it doesn’t matter whose bleed kit you use, we’re trying to aim it that they are so easily accessible that people are trained to use them. We want education so people are trained to use them. It’s just like a first aid course. It runs alongside a first aid course.
“We want it so there’s so many available, so that even if there’s multiple victims you don’t have to choose, so if there was a crash on the motorway , if you knew that cars and trucks and taxis and buses and coaches are carrying these bleed kits, everyone’s got a chance,” she added.