One of the last photographs ever taken of close friends Max Dixon and Mason Rist could prove to be one of the most poignant.
Sitting on a beige-coloured sofa, PlayStation controls firmly in their hands, the gaming-loving lads remain deeply focused without even so much as a wink or a glance towards the person taking their picture.
For their families and those who knew them well, this was likely a familiar scene that played out thousands of times in the Dixon and Rist family homes.
But tragically it will never again after the innocent best friends were ‘hunted down’ and brutally murdered by a machete gang in an appalling case of mistaken identity, earlier this year.
Anthony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17 – who cannot be named for legal reasons – were yesterday convicted of the horrific murders in Knowle, Bristol on January 27.
Max, 16, and Mason, 15, had been firm friends since the tender age of five, right from the moment when they took their first steps through the doors of the same nursery close to their Bristol homes.
They would go on to the same junior and secondary schools together, their bond of friendship growing stronger over the years.
Their heartbroken families remember the bubbly pair forever spending their free time away from school chatting with one another, gaming on the PlayStation or popping over to each other’s houses.
The closest of friends: Max, 16, (left) and Mason, 15, went to nursery, primary and secondary school together and enjoyed gaming together on the PlayStation
Max, 16, and Mason, 15, had been firm friends since the tender age of five
Mason (left), pictured with his mother, Nikki, and a young cousin, was described as an innocent lad who was ‘bubbly’ and ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’
Max with his mother, Leanne, in a family photo provided by Avon and Somerset Police
They also shared a love of football. Max played for Sunday league team Park Knowle FC, while Mason was known to be a huge Liverpool fan.
Following news of their deaths, a two-minute applause was held during the Championship clash between Bristol City and Leeds United in tribute to the boys.
When their families think of the teenagers’ personalities, the baby-faced duo are described as quiet, ‘innocent’ boys who ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’.
Understandably, their parents are yet to even begin to comprehend their ‘senseless’ killing, with Mason’s mother viscerally describing her son’s loss as ‘like a part of our jigsaw is gone forever and will never be complete.’
On January 27 – the fateful night that changed their lives forever – the boys were simply doing what they had always done before – making plans to spend a Saturday night together.
CCTV shows Max calling round to Mason’s house in Ilminster Avenue, Knowle, Bristol, at 11.13pm.
The teenagers make plans to go pick up a pizza and can be seen moments later walking down the street in the direction of the takeaway.
Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, was heading to bed while Mason’s mum, Nikki Knight, was enjoying a rare night out with friends.
CCTV footage shown to the jury captured the gang of five men getting out of a car holding machetes before setting on the fleeing teenagers in a frenzied attack lasting just 33 seconds
Video of the attack released today by police after the five attackers were convicted
Although they knew their sons were close, they were unaware the boys were meeting up and going out for food.
It was a simple plan that would tragically would come to change everything.
Just seconds after setting off, the young boys found themselves being chased and knifed to death in a horrifying attack – just yards away from Mason’s front door – having been wrongly identified as the culprits of an attack on a house that happened hours earlier.
CCTV footage shown to the jury captured the gang of five men getting out of a car holding machetes before setting on the fleeing teenagers in a frenzied attack lasting just 33 seconds.
Earlier that night, bricks were thrown at a house in the rival Hartcliffe district at 10.07pm.
Around 50 minutes later, Snook left the property with two teenagers and picked up another two in a nearby street before heading to Knowle West.
The Audi Q2 was driven around the area for at least 12 minutes before the gang launched their attack, the jury was told.
Snook drove down Ilminster Avenue, where Mason and Max were walking.
Anthony Snook (right), 45, and Riley Tolliver (second right), 18, and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been convicted of the murders
Mugshots of Riley Tolliver and Anthony Snook – released by police following their sentencing
It was at this moment the gang wrongly identified them as being responsible for the attack on the houses in Hartcliffe.
Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, told the jury: ‘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.’
Tolliver, who had a baseball bat, and 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 gang members.
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 gang getting back in and leaving.
Mason and Max sustained ‘unsurvivable’ stab injuries, and died in hospital in the early hours of January 28.
In the moments following the attack Snook drove the teenagers from the scene and dropped them off in Knowle West.
Mason and Max sustained ‘unsurvivable’ stab injuries and died in hospital on January 28
A fire was lit in a back garden, where items linked to the attack were disposed of.
Meanwhile, the 16-year-old boy picked up a McDonald’s meal and drinks just six hours after the attack.
Giving evidence, Snook claimed he thought he was driving the teenagers in his Audi Q2 disability car to a ‘safe house’ after the attack on the Hartcliffe property.
When he was told to stop in Ilminster Avenue he believed they were outside the safe house, Snook alleged.
The landscape gardener, who lost a leg in a road accident, insisted he did not know the boys were carrying weapons and was looking in his rear view mirror at the time Max and Mason were attacked.
‘I thought they had got into a fight or something. I didn’t want to be involved with it. I didn’t think it was something that cost two people their lives,’ he said.
‘I just thought it was something stupid between Hartcliffe and Knowle that I had been dragged into. I didn’t realise anyone had been seriously hurt.’
The four teenagers did not give evidence during the trial.
But the jury was told the 16-year-old had been covertly recorded in custody saying he had heard Mason screaming during the attack and ‘had to sort of join in’.
Max Dixon with his mother, Leanne, who said the convictions do not change the fact that ‘two families go home without their boys’
Following news of their deaths, a two-minute applause was held during the Championship clash between Bristol City and Leeds United in tribute to the boys
Mourners at Mason’s funeral turned out in Liverpool FC shirts for the devoted fan of the club
He also said he had put on ‘loads more tracksuits’ and left his phone behind before heading to Knowle West.
In closing speeches to the jury, barristers representing the teenagers said there was no joint plan to attack the two boys.
Anna Vigars KC, representing the 16-year-old, suggested her client did not have any intention to kill or cause really serious harm to Max or Mason.
‘He didn’t spring into action – he gets left behind. He didn’t know what the plan was, if there was a plan,’ Mrs Vigars said.
‘It isn’t just that his heart was not in it, but his intention was not either.’
Christopher Quinlan KC, representing the 17-year-old, said his client had admitted the manslaughter of Max but denied inflicting any injury to Mason.
The jury were shown the CCTV footage of Mason, after being struck by the 15-year-old, getting to his feet, with prosecutors then alleging the 17-year-old inflicted a second blow to him.
But Mr Quinlan suggested an alternative, telling jurors: ‘He had managed to get to his feet but because of the injury he sustained he wasn’t able to stand, as the 17-year-old passes him.
Max seen posing in a family photo released by Avon and Somerset Police
‘We say when you divorce Mason’s movements from the 17-year-old then the evidence is not there that he did stab him or make contact with him.’
Ignatius Hughes KC, representing Riley Tolliver, said his client had not struck Mason with a ‘sword, machete or zombie knife’.
‘A baseball bat is a very different choice of weapon to go out with than a great big zombie knife,’ he said.
‘He had an opportunity to cause really serious injury to Mason, but he didn’t do it.’
Kate Brunner KC, representing the 15-year-old, said he was not involved in the fatal attack on Max because it happened at the same time he was murdering Mason.
‘He has told you the terrible thing that he did. He was 14 when he stabbed Mason,’ she added.
‘He says that he did that, he’s been honest with this court and with you by saying guilty.’
In footage of officers arresting Tolliver at his home, he is heard asking if he can have a ‘puff’ on his ‘blue razz cherry’ vape before being taken away.
In footage of officers arresting Tolliver at his home, he is heard asking if he can have a ‘puff’ on his ‘blue razz cherry’ vape before being taken away, but this request is refused
Snook in the back of a police van as he is arrested by officers
Tolliver says: ‘Can I have a go on my puff before I go though. It’s a puff… Can’t I? It’s just blue razz cherry. Nicotine.’
Officers refuse, explaining that they don’t want to ’cause issues’ and there could be ‘cannabis in it which could affect your ability to be interviewed’.
Tolliver is also heard asking if he can ‘stand up’ and whether officers can loosen his cuffs.
At another point, he gives police permission to tell his grandmother why he has been arrested.
Following their conviction, Max’s mother, said: ‘The last six weeks have been emotionally draining.
‘Today’s outcome doesn’t change the fact that two families go home without their boys.
‘We can now hopefully begin to process that and remember them both and the happy memories that both families have of Max and Mason.
‘I need to thank everyone that’s been involved in our case. I have so much respect for the hard work, dedication and support for our families.
Mason pictured with his grandmother, Gail, who described the youngster as ‘bubbly’
‘There are no words to express how thankful I am to everyone. I will be forever grateful to them.
‘I wish we didn’t have to be here today, but we’ve got some sort of justice for our boys.’
In a statement released after the verdicts, Mason’s family said: ‘Our family is like a jigsaw puzzle and, with the loss of Mason, it is like a part of our jigsaw is gone forever and will never be complete.
‘Mason was a quiet boy who would never hurt a fly. He was just so lovely and innocent.
‘It is impossible to put into words how we feel. This whole process has been incredibly hard and hearing what we have heard, what happened to him, it is horrible to think about Mason’s last moments.
‘These dangerous individuals took away our son, brother, nephew, uncle and grandchild and we must now navigate the rest of our lives without our missing puzzle piece.
‘From the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank everyone worked so hard on this case.
‘The investigation team for being so hard working and dedicated, we appreciate it wasn’t easy working endless hours and under pressure but it is because of you we got this result.
‘The family wouldn’t have been able to get through this unbearable time without having the best family liaison officers assigned to us.
‘They have gone above and beyond to ensure we are always updated, guided and supported throughout this awful process.’
Mason’s uncle David Knight added: ‘We would like to say a massive thank you to Detective Superintendent Gary Haskins and all his team.
‘They promised us right at the beginning that they would do everything in their power and they have. They’ve got them.
‘We would like to thank the jury for having to see what we’ve seen, and no-one should ever see any of that.
‘We want to thank them for coming to the correct decision.’
Speaking after the verdicts, Detective Superintendent Gary Haskins, senior investigating officer at Avon and Somerset Police, said Max and Mason had been going for a pizza when they were fatally attacked in a case of mistaken identity.
‘They are beautiful boys, going about their business, in their own community when they were senselessly attacked by the individuals for no reason,’ he told the PA news agency.
‘What we know is that they passed Max when he was walking towards Mason’s house. Then Mason walks out of his house and joins Max.
‘The vehicle is passing, they think ‘that’s them, they will do’. They were hunting around Knowle to find people.
‘We know they had driven around Knowle two and a half times before they came across these two boys.’
The defendants sat impassively and stared straight ahead as the verdicts were delivered, while the victims’ relatives in the public gallery cried as the guilty verdicts were gives. Others cheered and punched the air.
Snook will be sentenced on November 19 at Bristol Crown Court.
The other four defendants will be sentenced on December 16 following the preparation of pre-sentence reports.
Trial judge Mrs Justice May thanked the jury for their work over the last five weeks.
‘Jury service is probably the most important public service you are asked to make,’ she said.
‘Some cases are particularly demanding on a jury and we are all aware this has been one of those.’
Vicky Cook, chief crown prosecutor for CPS South West, said: ‘The deaths of Max and Mason sent shockwaves through their community and the city of Bristol.
‘The Crown Prosecution Service worked closely with our colleagues in the Avon and Somerset major crime investigation team to build our case.
‘This was that all five defendants were jointly responsible for the murders of both Max and Mason.
‘Regardless of which individuals caused any of the fatal injuries, the evidence shows that all five were working together and share joint responsibility for this terrible crime.
‘The four youths armed themselves and went hunting for people to attack. When they came across Max and Mason, they launched a brutal, joint attack that left both boys fatally injured.
‘Antony Snook drove the youths around while they looked for people to attack. He knew that they were heavily armed and out for revenge. He could have been in no doubt about what they intended to do.
‘Snook waited for the youths while they carried out their cowardly attack, then acted as their getaway driver, helping them to escape the scene.
‘Today’s verdicts serve as a reminder that the carrying of knives and other bladed weapons can only lead to tragedy.
‘The loss that has been suffered by the families of Max and Mason is simply unimaginable, and our thoughts remain with them.’
