Double murder trial -Teenager pleads guilty to murder of Mason Rist

Five people are jointly charged with two murders

One of the teenagers standing trial for the murders of Bristol teenagers Max Dixon and Mason Rist has pleaded guilty to murder.

The boy, who is 15 and cannot be named for legal reasons, has already submitted a ‘guilty’ plea to the murder of Mason Rist, who was stabbed outside his home in Knowle West in January this year.

The 15-year-old has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the second count in the trial, that of the murder of Max Dixon.

Meanwhile, the jury has been told another of the teenagers standing trial for the double murder of Max and Mason has also entered a guilty plea - to the manslaughter of Max Dixon. The 17-year-old, who also cannot be named because of his age, has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to both counts of murder.

The guilty pleas were submitted to the court at a preliminary hearing earlier this year, but have been the subject of reporting restrictions ahead of the trial. The teenagers are two of five jointly accused of two counts of murder, following the deaths of Max Dixon, 16 and Mason Rist, 15, in Ilminster Avenue on January 27.

Prosecuting, Ray Tully, explained to the jury that the 15-year-old ‘accepts that he inflicted a fatal injury to Mason’. Earlier, the jury heard that Mason suffered two knife wounds, one to the back that passed through his lung, and a second which went almost eight and a half inches into the right side of his chest. The pathologist concluded both injuries were ‘unsurvivable’.

“By his guilty plea, he (the 15-year-old) accepts that he inflicted a fatal injury to Mason. He has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the murder of Max Dixon. We maintain that he, and each of the defendants, is guilty of both murders,” said Mr Tully, prosecuting.

Earlier in his opening statement, Mr Tully told the jury how the four teenagers were driven from Hartcliffe to Knowle West by Antony Snook, 45, and were ‘out for revenge’, but had attacked Max and Mason wrongly thinking they were involved in an attack on a house in Hartcliffe an hour earlier. The two friends from Knowle West had ‘nothing to do with that whatsoever’.

Mr Tully said the four acted ‘like a pack’, were armed with ‘fearsome’ weapons and were all responsible, along with Snook, for both the boys’ murders.

The jury was told the 17-year-old charged with both murders has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Max Dixon, but denied murdering him or Mason Rist.

“In doing so, he accepts that he is responsible for the unlawful killing of Max. he accepts that he stabbed Max using the weapon he had with him. He accepts that when he stabbed Max he caused the fatal injury to him. He denies that he intended to kill Max,” he told the jury.

“For that reason, he denies being guilty of murder, but accepts being guilty of manslaughter. He denies having any responsibility for the death of Mason. The prosecution suggest that he, along with all the other defendants is responsible for the murder of both boys,” he added.

Five people are charged with two counts of murder: Antony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, and four teenagers - Riley Tolliver, 18, and three others aged 15, 16, and 17, who cannot be named.