Two schoolboys murdered by vigilante gang in case of 'mistaken identity'

Two schoolboys were murdered by a vigilante gang wielding "fearsome weapons" who mistook them for yobs who had pelted their homes with bricks earlier in the day, a court heard.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were fatally attacked in the Knowle West area of Bristol, on the evening of January 27 this year in a case of mistaken identity after four teenagers and a man went looking for revenge.

Bristol Crown Court heard how the pair were outside Mason's home when they were set upon by a group that had driven past them in an Audi Q2 car.

Ray Tully KC, prosecuting, claimed Antony Snook, 45, and Riley Tolliver, 18, and three teenage boys aged 15, 16 and 17 - had gone to the area "tooled up" with machetes.

In CCTV images captured by a camera on Mason's home, a group of people can be seen leaving the vehicle and attacking Mason and Max before driving away just over 30 seconds later.

Mr Tully said that around an hour earlier, a property in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol had been attacked - with at least three young people throwing bricks through the windows, leaving a woman injured.

The jury was told there has been a "rivalry" between Knowle West and Hartcliffe - two parts of south Bristol - for many years with numerous incidents involving people from "both postcodes".

Mr Tully said: "They set off together, they were on a joint mission, and we say that was for revenge.

"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."

In panic both boys attempted to run to different sides of the street but Mr Tully claimed Tolliver and the 15-year-old boy chased and attacked Mason, while the 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy are said to have 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, it is alleged

Both suffered devastating stab wounds and died from their injuries.

Mr Tully said the prosecution's case is that the five defendants "acted jointly and are all jointly responsible for what happened".

He added: "Their joint attack resulted in both boys being killed. We suggest that given the nature and the type of weapons that they had with them, that they used, that is hardly surprising.

"The adult, Antony Snook, could and would not have been in any doubt about what these four youngsters were intending to do as he drove them round the streets of south Bristol for nearly 15 minutes hunting for their victims.

"We say he bears full responsibility for what his passengers did.

"Without his willingness, as an adult, to provide a car and drive these four young people around south Bristol tooled up, out looking to attack those that they thought were responsible for the attack on the house, these two killings wouldn't ever have happened."

The five defendants, Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys who cannot be named because of their age, deny murder.

The trial continues.