Teens stabbed to death in case of mistaken identity

Antony Snook (right), Riley Tolliver (second right) and three teenagers, who cannot be named, are on trial for the murders

Two teenagers stabbed to death were killed in a tragic case of mistaken identity, a court has heard.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died after being attacked in Ilminster Avenue, in Knowle West, Bristol, on 27 January.

Opening the trial of the five people accused of their murders, prosecutor Ray Tully KC told Bristol Crown Court the group "were acting as a pack" on a "joint mission" for revenge, but were "entirely wrong" in who they targeted.

Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenagers aged 15, 16, and 17 who cannot be named - are all jointly accused of the murders.

Mason (left) and Max (right) died after being stabbed in January

The court heard how the pair had been attacked by the four youngest defendants wielding "fearsome weapons", late on Saturday evening.

CCTV images captured from Mason's home showed the Audi, driven by Mr Snook, slow down as it passed Max, who was arriving at his friend's home on Ilminster Avenue.

The car then drives out of view, and Max and Mason leave the address together shortly thereafter.

Moments later, the same camera captures the Audi reappearing. Four people jump out and chase the boys down the road, before attacking them.

The suspects then got back into the car, which did a U-turn in the street and drove away, leaving Mason collapsed in the road just feet away from his family home.

The whole incident was over in just 33 seconds.

Max and Mason sustained stab wounds, Mr Tully said, and died from their injuries.

The jury were also shown two machetes which were recovered following the attack.

Prosecutor Ray Tully told the court the group had used "fearsome weapons"

Mr Tully told the court that around an hour earlier, a home in the Hartcliffe area of the city had been attacked - with at least three young people throwing bricks through the windows and injuring a woman.

At about 23:00, Mr Snook, Mr Tolliver, and the three teenage boys left the area in Snook's car, Mr Tully explained, heading to Knowle West.

He added that there had been a postcode rivalry for some time between Hartcliffe and Knowle West.

"They were all tooled up, they had some pretty fearsome weapons," Mr Tully said.

"As an adult, we say Antony Snook could and would have been in no doubt about what those four youngsters were intending, as he drove them round the streets of south Bristol in that car for nearly a quarter of an hour, hunting their victims."

The deaths of the two teenagers stunned the local community

"They set off together, they were on a joint mission, and we say that was for revenge," he continued.

"As they drove past Max and Mason walking down the street, they thought they had spotted the people responsible for the earlier attack - or at the very least, people connected to it.

"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 trial continues, and is expected to last for 10 weeks.