'They've taken my heart': Mother of murdered Bristol teen says her life was 'destroyed'

  • Max's mother, Leanne Ekland, told ITV News' Rob Murphy her son was "the glue" of her family

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity has said her family has been "destroyed" by the attack.

Max Dixon was attacked by a gang with "fearsome weapons" alongside his best friend Mason, 15, just a few metres away from Mason's front door in Knowle West, Bristol, on 27 January.

Their injuries took just 33 seconds to inflict but were unsurvivable.

Max's mother, Leanne Ekland, said: "They've taken my heart. I now need to repair my life without him. Everyone says it will get better, but I don't think it will because he was a massive part of our family.

"They need to understand that they destroyed me and they didn't know me. And they didn't know Max. He was the glue of our family".

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were stabbed to death outside Mason's home in Bristol Credit: Family handout

Max and Mason's attackers – Riley Tolliver, 18, Kodi-Shai Wescott, 17, and two boys aged 15 and 16, who cannot be named due to their age – had been driven to Ilminster Avenue by Antony Snook, 45.

All five were convicted of double murder last month following a 6-week trial at Bristol Crown Court. Getaway driver Snook was later jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 38 years.

During a sentencing hearing at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 19 December, Tolliver and Westcott were both handed life sentences with minimum terms of 23 years.

The 15-year-old boy and 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were detained for life with minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively.

Sentencing them, she said: "Max and Mason’s families must go on without them in a different way now. Your lives will change too. As Mason’s sister said, there are no winners here".

Max's mother, Leanne Ekland said her family has been "destroyed" by the attack Credit: Family handout

Previously, the court heard how the group of teenagers had been on "a joint mission for revenge" following an attack at a property in Hartcliffe.

The property, where Kodi Wescott lived, was damaged when bricks were thrown by a group of men holding machetes and wearing balaclavas just after 10pm. Wescott’s mum was injured inside.

Afterwards, family friend Snook arrived in his car with one of the other defendants and minutes later they left together with Wescott. Both the teenagers were armed with knives.

On their way from Hartcliffe to Knowle, where there had been an ongoing rivalry, they picked up the two other teenagers, including Riley Tolliver.

The court heard how they were "tooled up" with "fearsome weapons" as Snook drove the teenagers around Knowle "on the hunt".

They came across Max and Mason who were described as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The two best friends were walking along Ilminster Avenue to go and get a pizza.

The four teenagers, wrongly believing they had found those responsible for the Hartcliffe incident, got out of Snook’s Audi Q2 and fatally stabbed Max and Mason. The teens then got back into the Audi and Snook drove them away.

Max and Mason had met up that night to get some pizza Credit: Family handout

'Max was at home on the PlayStation' - Mother

Ms Ekland recalled how she couldn't believe what she was hearing when someone broke the news that Max had been stabbed.

The last time she had seen him, he'd been playing video games with his best friend Mason.

She explained: "Me and my partner Trevor were up in bed. Max was at home. He was in his bedroom on the PlayStation. We just didn't think anything of it.

"And the next minute, there was a car pulled up outside my house and was shouting up outside my window that Max had been stabbed, and I said, 'No he's not, he's in bed'.

"And then the realisation hit me. I just had to get out of the house and I asked the boys to take me down to where Max was.

"When I got to him, I sat down with him on the floor, and the paramedics were cutting his clothes and I just kept thinking he's going to be so annoyed with you because you're cutting his coat off. It was his Christmas coat".

Max's mother, Leanne Ekland, said the attack had "destroyed" her family Credit: Family handout

Max used to 'bring Mason out of his shell' - mother

Ms Ekland described her son as "the joker of the pack" and said he had a "special bond" with his best friend Mason, despite the two boys having different personalities.

"Max was quite outgoing and Mason was very quiet," she said.

"They'd grown up together through the years, and we used to joke all the time that it was an odd friendship but they just brought the best out of each other.

"I think Mason used to calm Max down, and Mason used to bring Max out of his shell".

Ms Ekland added: "When I see Max and Mason on the CCTV, when I see them meet up with each other, I just look at him and I can see him smiling.

"And what's sad, is that those boys don't know what is going to happen to them. They have no idea what is going to happen to them when they walk out of that gate.

"They must have been petrified. Because they were just going to get some food. They've done nothing wrong".

Leanne Ekland has called for people to not get involved in knife crime

Speaking to ITV News, Ms Ekland called on people not to get involved in knife crime, saying there is no excuse for carrying dangerous weapons.

"I try not to think about the people who did this because it takes away my love for Max. I try not to focus on them because I don't want to be angry, so I always put Max in front of everything.

"I think they've got to live with what they've done for the rest of their life. And I hope one day, they will understand what they've done wrong and have a little bit of remorse.

"I just don't understand what was going through their minds to think that was okay and to go there and to think that carrying those sorts of weapons isn't going to cause serious harm.

"It's okay saying that they went to scare them - you didn't need to take a knife with you".