Man, 45, and four teenagers guilty of murdering two boys

Four teenagers and a 45-year-old man have been convicted of murdering two boys whom they had mistaken for the perpetrators of an earlier attack on a house in Bristol linked to a long-running postcode rivalry.

- Jamie Grierson

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were fatally attacked with machetes in the Knowle West area of the city on the evening of 27 January.

Bristol crown court heard that the group of five defendants - Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 15, 16 and 17 - had driven to the area in Snook's Audi with "some pretty fearsome weapons".

Mason and Max received stab injuries and both died in hospital in the early hours of 28 January.

One of the teenagers picked up a McDonald's meal and drinks six hours after the attack, the court heard.

Yesterday the jury found all five defendants guilty of the murders of both boys. The 15-year-old defendant, who was 14 at the time of the attack, had already pleaded guilty to the murder of Mason, while the 17-year-old, who was 16 at the time of the killings, had admitted manslaughter in the case of Max but denied murdering either boy.