### Teenagers and Man Convicted for Murdering Two Boys in Mistaken Identity Case

A court has found four teenagers and one adult guilty of murdering two teenage boys, Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, in a tragic case of mistaken identity in Bristol. This incident occurred on 27 January near Mason's home in Knowle West.

The perpetrators were seeking revenge for an attack on a house in Hartcliffe, a crime unrelated to Mason and Max. Driven by Antony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, the armed teenagers – Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 16, 17, and 15 – chased the innocent victims before brutally stabbing them with machetes.

The verdict, delivered by a jury at Bristol Crown Court, saw Snook and the 16 and 17-year-old boys denying both murders, while the 15-year-old admitted to killing Mason but denied involvement in Max's death. Nevertheless, after 18 hours and 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury found all five defendants guilty of both murders.

The courtroom was charged with emotion as family members of the victims, who were present to hear the verdict, broke into tears, with some relatives expressing relief by cheering and punching the air. Leanne Ekland, Max's mother, emphasized the lasting void left by the loss, stating, "Today's outcome doesn't change the fact that two families go home without their boys. But we can now hopefully begin to process and remember them both and the happy memories both families have of Max and Mason."

Mason's uncle, David Knight, remembered his nephew as a loving and caring individual and mourned the irreplaceable gap his death has left in their family.

Details presented during the trial revealed that Max and Mason had been wrongly identified by the attackers as the ones responsible for a vandalism incident in Hartcliffe. Snook, who claimed ignorance of the boys' intentions to kill, drove the group to Knowle West where the attack happened. The court was shown CCTV footage depicting the Audi Q2 slowing down as it spotted Mason and Max, the eventual fatal attack, and community members' desperate attempts to save the boys.

Snook will be sentenced on 19 November, with Riley Tolliver and the three underage boys due for sentencing on 16 December.