Bristol man who drove teens to murder scene jailed for minimum of 38 years

A man who drove four teenagers to a murder scene has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 38 years.

Getaway driver Antony Snook, 45, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday 19 November for the murders of teenagers Mason Rist and Max Dixon during a machete attack.

Five people have been found guilty of murdering two best friends in a machete attack in Bristol in a case of mistaken identity.

Snook claimed that he did not know his passengers were “armed to the teeth” with machetes, but a jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted him and four other teenagers of two counts of murder.

The Judge Ms Justice May said: “You were so weak and cowardly that you leant yourself to a revenge scheme of others.

"You knew they were carrying weapons. You were the only adult, there were multiple opportunities to stop this madness.

"It was unlikely your idea but you agreed to take a posse of teenagers (to Knowle). Max and Mason were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Mrs Justice May described how Antony Snook was the “only adult” at the time four armed teenagers fatally attacked Max Dixon and Mason Rist in a case of mistaken identity.

She found that Snook had not intended the four children in his car to kill Max and Mason, but “with knives in their hands and revenge in their minds, a very serious outcome was a certainty”.

“You were the only adult,” the judge told Snook. “There were multiple opportunities for you to have stopped this madness, to have taken the boys back, to have locked the car doors so they could not get out, or to have refused to leave Hartcliffe with them in the first place.

“There has been no evidence of any mental deficiency or disorder which may have compromised your thinking, no indication of any influence or pressure brought to bear on you.

“How you came to agree to take those four boys to Knowle remains unexplained. You were certainly no friend to them when you did so.

“The consequences of your refusal to act like a responsible adult, like the adult who can say ‘No’, has resulted not only in the deaths of two innocent boys, but will be reflected also in the sentences which the court will be obliged to pass on the four teenagers, three of them still children, next month.”

Members of Max and Mason’s families wept and embraced after the sentence was passed, while Snook remained emotionless.

Background to the case

Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were attacked with “fearsome weapons” just a few metres away from Mason’s front door.

Their injuries took just 33 seconds to inflict, but were unsurvivable. They were both declared dead in hospital within hours of the 27 January attack.

Five people - two adult men and three teenage boys - have now been found guilty of their murders following a lengthy trial at Bristol Crown Court.

They are: 45-year-old Antony Snook, 18-year-old Riley Tolliver and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17. The youngest teenagers cannot be named due to their age.

The jury heard the group set off on a “joint mission” for “revenge” that night after a property in Hartcliffe was damaged at around 10pm that night.

Driven by Snook, they travelled to Knowle West - which the court heard had a “rivalry” with the Hartcliffe area.

The group were armed with machetes and a screwdriver and it was not long before they stumbled upon Max and Mason. It was a Saturday night and the friends had met at Mason’s home in Ilminster Avenue.

The four teenagers, wrongly believing they’d found those responsible for the Hartcliffe incident, got out of the Audi A2 and attacked.

It took just 33 seconds for Max and Mason to suffer fatal stab wounds. The teens then got back into the Audi and Snook drove them away.

Why was Snook found guilty of murder?

Detective Supt Gary Haskins, who has led the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) for five years and headed up the investigation for Avon and Somerset Police described the case as being like “no other”.

Although Snook did not leave his vehicle during the attack itself, the entire group were found guilty of both murders by way of joint enterprise.

DS Haskins explained that while Snook did not inflict the boys’ wounds, he “facilitated” the attack.

“Snook is the adult,” he said. “He could have made the decision not to not to carry them across the city.

“Snook drove them across the city in his own vehicle. They were all armed, and armed with significant weapons. It was obvious to all that there was going to be a confrontation of some sort.

“With those weapons that were involved, there was no positive outcome to come of that.”

Impact of the murders

Max and Mason’s murders sent shockwaves through the city of Bristol, with both boys described as kind and loving young men.

Mason’s family described as a “precious” son, brother, grandson, nephew, uncle and cousin who was a “kind” and “gentle soul”. He was a proud Liverpool FC supporter and loved his Playstation.

Max’s family say he was a “respectful”, “fun” and “cheeky” boy, describing him as a “loyal friend, kind grandchild, loving nephew and annoying brother”.