Four teenagers jailed for life for murdering two boys in Bristol
Max Dixon and Mason Rist were fatally stabbed in Knowle West in January
Last updated 19th Dec 2024
Four teenagers, three of whom are under 18 have been handed life sentences for the murders of Mason Rist and Max Dixon in Bristol.
To date KISS Fresh has only been able to name one of them as 18-year-old Riley Tolliver, but we can now reveal one of the other three is Kodishai Wescott (17), who's brother Bailey Wescott was sentenced earlier this week for two counts of assisting an offender in relation to the case.
Tolliver, Kodishai Wescott (known as Kodi) and the other two whom we still cannot name because of their ages, will serve collective minimum terms of 79 years behind bars.
WATCH: Our video report from the day their getaway driver Antony Snook was jailed for life.
What happened to Max and Mason?
Max Dixon (16) and Mason Rist (15), both from Knowle West, were best friends.
On the evening of Saturday 27th January at around 11:15pm Max went to meet Mason at his home on Illminster Avenue, with a plan to go and get some food.
As they left Mason's home a car driven by Antony Snook (45) passed by, also carrying Tolliver, Kodishai Wescott and the two other defendants.
Several CCTV cameras including one on Mason's home captured all of them except Snook jump out armed with large knives and attack the boys, who were fatally stabbed. Both Max and Mason were declared dead later in hospital, with the entire incident lasting just 33 seconds.
Why were Max Dixon and Mason Rist targeted?
During a trial at Bristol Crown Court lasting six weeks, the prosecution outlined how Snook and the others were out for revenge, after bricks were thrown at a house in Hartcliffe earlier that evening.
The court heard how there has been a long standing rivalry between communities in Hartcliffe and Knowle West for many years, with the defendants assuming people from Knowle were responsible.
Driving along Illminster Avenue that evening they spotted Max and Mason and attacked them after wrongly believing they were responsible. In fact they were entirely innocent.
Detective Superintendent Gary Haskins, who led the investigation for Avon and Somerset Police, said: "In all my years of policing this is probably one of the biggest investigations and without doubt one of the saddest investigations I have ever worked upon.
"It shouldn't happen within our city."
During the trial, the court was played CCTV footage of the attack, which showed Max and Mason turning and attempting to run away as the defendants approached them, going to different sides of the street.
Tolliver and a 15-year-old we cannot name chased Mason, while a 16-year-old and Kodishai Wescott followed Max.
Kodishai went on to admit he stabbed Max but claimed it was manslaughter, while the 15-year-old who chased Mason admitted his murder. The jury found all of them including driver Snook jointly guilty of both murders, with the judge calling it "a classic group attack".
Kodishai Westcott named in 'central role' for the killings
At the start of the sentencing hearing on Monday (16th December) judge Mrs Justice May ruled we can now name Kodishai Wescott, because he played a "central role" in both killings.
Not only did he inflict the fatal wound on Max, she said, but he also stabbed Mason as he ran back towards Snook's car to get away. Describing him as the "principal offender" she said the public interest in naming him outweighed any potential welfare concerns.
On Tuesday (17th December) his older brother Bailey Wescott (23) and another man Jamie Ogbourne (27) were both sentenced to more than five years in prison for two counts of assisting an offender, in relation to Kodishai and the 15-year-old defendant we cannot name.
Immediately after the stabbings Snook, Kodishai and the 15-year-old returned to a house in Hartcliffe, where a CCTV camera captured Bailey Wescott and Ogbourne burning clothing connected to the stabbings, in the back garden.
Ogbourne then took Kodishai and the 15-year-old to his own home, where the prosecution argued he attempted to hide them from the police, providing them with a phone and money.
WATCH: Max Dixon's mum Leanne Ekland spoke outside court on the day his killers were found guilty of murder.
Teenagers express remorse for deaths
At their sentencings the teenagers and Snook (who was sentenced separately to life with a minimum term of 38 years) each said through their barristers that they were sorry for the killings.
However, the prosecution noted during the sentencing of Bailey Wescott and Ogbourne that the day after the stabbings, Bailey appeared to be coaching his brother on how to avoid arrest.
In a text message sent to Kodi, Bailey told him: "Don't say you was there," before adding, "just go on like, you don't know what's happening."
Kodi's reply read: "I'll just say I splashed* no lil kid."
*"Splashed" is a slang term meaning "stabbed".
Snook who acted as the teenagers' getaway driver was the only one to give evidence in his own defence, claiming he was coerced into driving the group to Knowle and had no idea what they were planning to do when they got there.
At his sentencing the judge dismissed that account as a total fabrication.
Read more on this story here:
Two jailed for assisting murders of Max Dixon and Mason Rist in Bristol
COURT: Teenagers apologise for Knowle West murders
Mum of murdered Bristol boy says family "destroyed" by loss
Man who drove teenagers to fatal stabbing in Bristol jailed for life