Driver accused of murdering teenage boys in Bristol said he had "no involvement" in violence
Five people are accused of murder
A driver who allegedly took four armed teenagers to a street before two boys were fatally attacked in Bristol told police he had "no involvement" in the violence.
Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died from stab wounds after being set upon after leaving Mason's home on Ilminster Avenue in the Knowle West area of Bristol shortly after 11pm on January 27.
Five people - Antony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 15, 16 and 17, who cannot be named because of their age - are on trial at Bristol Crown Court charged with their murder.
The jury of nine men and three women previously heard that Mason and Max had been wrongly identified as being responsible for bricks being thrown at a house in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol earlier that evening.
On Friday, the court was read interviews conducted with Snook after his arrest at his home in Hartcliffe shortly after midnight on January 28.
Jurors were told Snook had initially been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but as news came through that Mason had died, the police van carrying him to custody stopped and he was told he was now detained on suspicion of murder.
In police interviews, Snook said he was in "shock" and believed he was driving four teenage boys to safety after the attack in the Hartcliffe area by "Knowle Westers".
He told officers that he did not know where he was going, and was being directed by the boys, when they suddenly shouted "stop" and got out of his Audi Q2 car.
"I wanted to know where the hell we were going," Snook told police.
"I just kept getting blank - just up there, just up there. When we saw a police van parked up by the shops, they acted really strange.
"Obviously I knew something was up then. I was like 'I'm going home'. They were screaming in the car at me 'stop'.
"I didn't know they was going to jump out, didn't know any weapons was in the car.
"They just jumped out. I didn't have no pre-warning. I didn't know what was going on.
"I was still moving. They screamed 'stop', I pressed the brakes, before the car had stopped they'd gone out of the car.
"By the time I'd done a three-point turn, they were back in the car. I didn't see anything."
Snook told police he was planning to drive back without the teenagers he had taken to the area, and had "no intention" of waiting for them to get back in his car.
He added: "I had no involvement."
A CCTV camera on Mason's house captured how the attack lasted just 33 seconds - including the Audi stopping, four teenagers allegedly jumping out, attacking the two friends, returning to the car and it driving off.
Mason and Max sustained fatal stab injuries and both died in hospital in the early hours of January 28.
The 15-year-old boy on trial has admitted murdering Mason but denies murdering Max. The 17-year-old boy has admitted manslaughter relating to Max, but denies murdering Max and Mason.
Jurors previously heard how a property in the Hartcliffe area of Bristol, which they were told has a rivalry with the Knowle West area, was targeted at about 10pm on January 27.
CCTV footage from that house shows people outside holding machetes and throwing bricks at the windows. A woman was injured in the incident.
An hour later, Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys allegedly left the Hartcliffe area in the Audi for "revenge", Ray Tully KC prosecuting, previously said.
They drove past Mason and Max, who had just left Mason's home, and wrongly believed they had spotted those responsible for the attack.
Mr Tully previously told the jury that they were "entirely wrong", as Max and Mason had "absolutely nothing to do" with the incident in Hartcliffe.
Snook, Tolliver, the 16-year-old boy and the 17-year-old boy are charged with murdering Mason, together with the 15-year-old boy, on January 27 this year.
Snook, Tolliver and the three teenage boys are charged with murdering Max on the same date.
The trial continues on Tuesday.