Two teenage boys attacked in Bristol sustained fatal stab wounds – pathologist

A pathologist has told a jury how two teenage boys who died after being attacked in Bristol both sustained fatal stab wounds.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were allegedly set upon by four armed teenagers after leaving Mason’s home in 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 Tuesday, Home Office pathologist Dr Russell Delaney gave evidence about post-mortem examinations he conducted on both boys.

Dr Delaney told the court how Mason sustained a stab wound to his back, and a stab wound to the front of his chest/abdomen area.

He said: “He died despite extensive resuscitative measures. In my opinion, these were unsurvivable injuries.”

The court heard the injuries were caused by “moderate” force but Dr Delaney could not rule out “more severe force” being used.

Dr Delaney added that Mason had no defensive-type injuries, for example to his hands.

Mason also sustained abrasions, or grazes, to his left ear, nose, chin and left knee “in keeping with a collapse to the ground”, the pathologist said.

Referring to injuries to Max, Dr Delaney described how he had one stab wound to his “right flank” which would have resulted in “severe blood loss”.

He told the court: “He would have been capable of some continued activity after injury due to the body’s ability to compensate for blood loss.

“As the bleeding continued, the compensating mechanism would have failed, leading rapidly and progressively to unconsciousness and cardiac arrest.

“He died despite extensive resuscitative measures.”

Dr Delaney said Max also did not have any defensive injuries.

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 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.