A getaway driver who helped four teens kill two boys with machetes during a case of mistaken identity has been jailed for life for murder.
Antony Snook, 45, drove Riley Tolliver, 18, and boys aged 15, 16 and 17 to and from Knowle West in Bristol where they murdered Mason Rist and Max Dixon. Following a trial at Bristol Crown Court, Snook will now serve a minimum of 38 years in prison.
On January 27 this year, Mason, 15, and Max, 16, died from stab wounds after being chased by the four armed teenagers. As part of a revenge mission, Tolliver and the three boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been driven to and from Knowle West by Snook.
The two boys had been wrongly identified as being responsible for bricks being thrown at a house in the rival Hartcliffe district earlier that evening. Around an hour after that attack, Snook left the property with two of the boys and picked up the other two in a nearby street before heading to Knowle West.
His Audi Q2 was driven around Knowle West for at least 12 minutes before the attack. Snook drove down Ilminster Avenue when they saw Mason and Max in the street as they went for a pizza – wrongly believing they had spotted those responsible for the attack.
Tolliver, who had a baseball bat, and the three teenagers armed with machetes jumped out of the car and chased after the two boys. Max and Mason are seen going to different sides of the street, each pursued by two people from the vehicle.
Tolliver and the 15-year-old boy attacked Mason while the 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy chased Max. The 17-year-old boy also struck Mason, who was lying injured on the ground, as he headed back to the Audi after attacking Max.
A CCTV camera on Mason’s nearby house captured how the attack lasted just 33 seconds from the car pulling up to the teenagers getting back in and leaving. Mason and Max sustained fatal stab injuries and both died in hospital in the early hours of January 28.
Snook, a one-legged landscape gardener, drove the teenagers from the scene and dropped them off in Knowle West. A fire was lit in a back garden and items linked to the attack disposed of.
Snook, of Dowling Road, Bristol, was convicted by the jury last week of two counts of murder following a six-week trial. Passing sentence, Mrs Justice May described Snook’s actions as “so weak and cowardly” and said he could have refused to take the “posse of armed teenagers” to the scene.
She told him: “You assisted the armed boys. You knew they were carrying weapons. With knives in their hands and revenge in their minds, a very serious outcome was a certainty. Death was a matter of chance. You were the only adult. There were multiple opportunities for you to stop this madness.”
Members of Max and Mason’s families wept and embraced after the sentence was passed, while Snook remained emotionless. The four teenagers will be sentenced on December 16 following the preparation of reports.
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