Driver thought he was taking teenagers to safe house before stabbing, court told

A driver who allegedly took four armed teenagers to a street where two boys were fatally attacked thought he was driving them to a safe house, a court heard.

Antony Snook, 45, is accused of driving Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys aged 15, 16 and 17, to and from the scene of the alleged murders in Bristol.

Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, died from stab wounds shortly after leaving Mason’s home in Ilminster Avenue in the Knowle West area on January 27 this year, Bristol Crown Court heard.

The two boys had been wrongly identified as being responsible for bricks being thrown at a house in the neighbouring Hartcliffe district earlier that evening.

Snook is on trial alongside Tolliver and three boys aged 15, 16 and 17, who cannot be named because of their age, accused of Mason and Max’s murders.

Giving evidence, Snook said he thought he was driving his four co-accused in his Audi Q2 car to a safe house following the attack on the Hartcliffe property.

He told the jury he left that house with two of the teenagers and then picked up the other two on a nearby street.

The prosecution alleges the car was then being driven around Knowle West for at least 12 minutes before the attack.

Snook explained he was following the directions, telling the jury: “I didn’t know where I was going, and I was being directed by someone in the back. I don’t know … to the supposed house.”

The prosecution alleges the Audi was driven down Ilminster Avenue, Mason and Max were spotted, and the car turned around to go back up the road towards them.

Asked about this, Snook said he had turned around because he had “had enough” and wanted to head in the direction of home.

“I’d just had enough of not knowing where I am going,” he said.

“I’d switched off, it was late at night, I’d finished work for the day, and I wanted to get back home.

“As we got down there someone said ‘stop’.”

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.

Snook told the jury he knew of the rivalry between Knowle West and Hartcliffe, but he had “no interest in any grudges”.

He said when he left the property in Hartcliffe he did not see either teenager carrying weapons.

The defendant explained he was directed by his passengers to pick up the other two defendants on a nearby road.

“I think it was a phone call after we left and I was asked to pick them up,” Snook said.

Adam Vaitilingam KC, defending Snook, asked: “Was anything said about why you were picking them up?”

Snook replied: “I didn’t think of asking.”

Asked if those two were also carrying weapons, Snook replied: “I didn’t see anything in their hands, not even a phone.”

The barrister asked Snook what he thought he was doing, and he replied: “Take them somewhere safe so they could sleep for the night.

“I was being directed. I wasn’t really following a direction.”

Mr Vaitilingam asked: “Did you know Mason and Max?”

The defendant replied: “Not at all, no.”

Snook told the jury on the evening of the incident he had driven the 16-year-old defendant and another teenager to Swindon as they were helping him buy a new phone.

While returning to Bristol he received a phone call informing him of the attack, and drove via his own home to drop off his dog because he was worried about the animal being hurt from the broken glass.

Snook told the jury he could see the smashed windows and broken glass on the floor and saw an injured woman.

“I was trying to convince her to go to hospital. I offered to take her to hospital,” he said.

“Someone else was going to take her. I can’t remember what she said about it, but she said it was already sorted.”

Snook told the jury his Audi was a disability car which he had used since losing his leg in 2019 following an accident seven years earlier.

He had previously worked in the aerospace industry for 22 years but since losing his leg had set up a landscape gardening business employing eight to 10 people.

As a result of the injury, he lost his job and moved to a rented flat in Hartcliffe, becoming self-employed.

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.