A High Court judge became emotional as she described how two innocent boys were murdered by a gang of armed teenagers out for revenge as she sentenced their getaway driver to life imprisonment.
Mrs Justice May visibly choked as she described Max Dixon, 16, and 15-year-old Mason Rist as “two good boys from loving homes” as she jailed Antony Snook for a minimum of 38 years.
She praised their families for the “dignity and grace” shown during the six-week trial at Bristol Crown Court of Snook, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenage boys aged 15, 16 and 17.
“Mason, 15, and Max, 16, had been best friends for a long time,” the judge said.
“These were two good boys from loving homes with their whole lives ahead of them.”
She described the “burning sense of unfairness of the attack on these two boys” who were walking to get food in their community.
“Nothing can undo the dreadful events of that night, or bring Mason or Max back,” she said.
Snook, 45, drove the four teenagers to and from Knowle West as part of a revenge mission after a house in the rival Hartcliffe area was attacked by masked youths.
Max and Mason died from stab wounds after being chased by the four armed teenagers on January 27 this year.
The two boys had been wrongly identified as being responsible for bricks being thrown at the house earlier that evening.
Around an hour after that attack, Snook left the property with two of the boys and picked up the other two in a nearby street before heading to Knowle West.
His Audi Q2 was driven around Knowle West for at least 12 minutes before the attack.
The best friends had left Mason’s home on Ilminster Avenue and were going for a pizza when they were spotted by the defendants, who wrongly believed they were responsible for the earlier attack.
Tolliver, who had a baseball bat, and the three teenagers armed with machetes jumped out of the car and chased after the two boys.
Max and Mason are seen going to different sides of the street, each pursued by two people from the vehicle.
Tolliver and the 15-year-old boy attacked Mason while the 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy chased Max.
The 17-year-old boy also struck Mason, who was lying injured on the ground, as he headed back to the Audi after attacking Max.
A CCTV camera on Mason’s nearby house captured how the attack lasted just 33 seconds from the car pulling up to the teenagers getting back in and leaving.
Max and Mason sustained fatal stab injuries and both died in hospital in the early hours of January 28.
Snook, a one-legged landscape gardener, drove the teenagers from the scene in his mobility car and dropped them off in Knowle West.
A fire was lit in a back garden and items linked to the attack disposed of.
Snook, of Dowling Road, Bristol, was convicted by the jury last week of two counts of murder following a six-week trial.
Passing sentence, Mrs Justice May described Snook’s actions as “so weak and cowardly” and said he could have refused to take the “posse of armed teenagers” to the scene.
She told him: “You assisted the armed boys. You knew they were carrying weapons.
“With knives in their hands and revenge in their minds, a very serious outcome was a certainty.
“Death was a matter of chance. You were the only adult. There were multiple opportunities for you to stop this madness.”
I will never forgive you for what you have done. Mason could have been your friend but now he’s your victim
The judge said it was “impossible to fathom” why Snook agreed to drive the armed teenagers to Knowle West.
She said they had “truly fearsome” weapons, including a black “killer zombie-type” knife, which is illegal to sell in the UK.
The judge told Snook: “You all went hunting for victims around the streets of Knowle.
“You would have experienced the atmosphere in that car, felt the mad, chaotic bloodlust of the four armed teens, yet on you went.
“Mason and Max were simply and tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time. They had had nothing whatsoever to do with the earlier attack on the address in Hartcliffe.”
Members of the families wept and embraced after the sentence was passed, while Snook remained emotionless.
In victim personal statements, the sisters and mothers of Max and Mason paid tribute to them and laid out the devastating impact of their murders.
Mason’s sister Chloe told Snook: “Although I haven’t seen any remorse or regret, it must weigh heavy on you that you got the wrong boy. Mason wasn’t your enemy, he wasn’t anyone’s enemy.
“I will never forgive you for what you have done. Mason could have been your friend but now he’s your victim.”
Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, told Snook: “My son didn’t deserve to die and neither did Mason. Our families didn’t deserve to go through this.
“Due to your actions that night, two families have been destroyed.
“There are no words to describe how much I love my son, no words to describe the pain of losing him. Our family unit has been destroyed.”
Detective Superintendent Gary Haskins from Avon and Somerset Police said Max and Mason may still be alive if it was not for Snook’s actions.
He said: “Snook was the adult in that situation. He should have taken responsibility and stopped the four other defendants from committing such a heinous crime.
“We put forward a basis of joint enterprise to the jury, meaning that even those who didn’t cause any physical harm to Max or Mason did nothing to deter the others and were even argued to be encouraging their actions.
“Snook played the role of the facilitator and the getaway driver. He drove them around Knowle like a pack on the hunt, before turning into Ilminster Avenue.
“He then saw the attack play out and then drove them away from the scene. If it wasn’t for him, the boys may well still be alive.”
The four teenagers will be sentenced on December 16 following the preparation of reports.
