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CCTV shows moments leading up to fatal stabbings

Avon and Somerset Police Mason Rist sitting down, wearing a football jersey and posing with his thumb up. On the right, there is a close up picture of Max Dixon smiling at the camera. Avon and Somerset Police
Mason Rist (L) and Max Dixon (R) were killed in a case of mistaken identity, linked to a long-running postcode rivalry

A jury has been shown CCTV footage of the moments leading up to a 33-second fatal attack on two teenage boys.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, can be seen in the images leaving Mason’s home on Ilminster Avenue in Knowle West, Bristol, shortly after 23:00 GMT on 27 January.

Bristol Crown Court heard how the close friends were then set upon by four teenage boys, armed with "fearsome weapons", in a case of mistaken identity.

Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 17, 16 and 15 – who cannot be named due to their age – are on trial, each charged with two counts of murder.

Prosecutor Ray Tully QC told the jury of nine men and three women how the pair had been wrongly identified as being responsible for a separate attack on a home in Hartcliffe earlier that evening.

Avon and Somerset Police Black and white CCTV footage showing three people with face coverings, carrying machetes and throwing bricks through the windows of the property. Avon and Somerset Police
Mr Tully said three people had targeted a home in Hartcliffe on the night of the attack

At about 22:00 GMT, three masked individuals were caught on CCTV outside the property, wielding machetes and throwing bricks through the windows, injuring a woman inside.

Mr Tully said an hour later, Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys left the Hartcliffe area in Snook’s Audi Q2, "hell-bent on revenge".

He added that there had been a "postcode rivalry" between Hartcliffe and Knowle West for some time.

Avon and Somerset Police Black and white CCTV footage capturing Max and Mason wearing tracksuit bottoms and winter coats with their hoods up. They are leaving the front yard of Mason's home and walking through the gate onto the pavement of Ilminster Avenue.Avon and Somerset Police
CCTV footage captured Max and Mason smiling as they left the home together, just seconds before they were set upon by their attackers

CCTV images captured from Mason's home on Ilminster Avenue showed the Audi, driven by Mr Snook, slow down as it passed Max arriving at his friend's home.

The car then drives out of frame, and Max and Mason leave the address together shortly thereafter.

Moments later, the same camera captures the Audi reappearing. Four people jump out and chase the boys down the road, before inflicting the fatal injuries, the court was told.

The suspects then piled back into the car, which performed a U-turn in the street and sped away, leaving Mason collapsed in the road just feet away from his family home.

Avon and Somerset Police A black and white image showing a teenage boy walking across the road with a machete behind his back, glinting in the streetlights.Avon and Somerset Police
One of the defendants is captured holding a large machete

Mason was later pronounced dead at Bristol Children’s Hospital at 00:49 GMT, while Max was pronounced dead at Southmead Hospital at 01:02 GMT.

The 15-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has admitted murdering Mason Rist, 15, who died after being stabbed twice.

Another boy, 17, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Max Dixon, 16, who died after being stabbed once.

The trial continues.

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