Chloe Rist broke down in tears, clutching her brother’s ashes in court, as four teenagers were jailed for life for hacking her brother Mason, 15, and his friend Max Dixon, 16, to death
A slain schoolboy’s sister clutched his ashes in court today as she confronted his teenage killers and said: “This is all I have left of him.”
Chloe Rist broke down in tears as four teenagers were caged for life after hacking her brother Mason, 15, and his friend Max Dixon, 16, to death. She delivered a devastating victim impact statement as she held up her brother’s remains, a lock of his blood-soaked hair and his hand prints.
She told Bristol Crown Court: “This is what you have done. I should not have to look at his brain fragments. I’ve got his hair with dried blood on. I have my dead brother’s handprints. That is another thing you’ve done – I should be able to hold my brother’s hand and not a piece of paper. This is all I have left of him – what I have to look at every day.”
A judge unmasked one of the teenagers who carried out the double murder as she sentenced the gang to a total of more than 80 years. Kodishai Wescott – who was just 16 at the time of the attack but is now 17 – was named for the first time as he was jailed alongside Riley Tolliver, 18, and two teenagers aged 15 and 16, who cannot be identified. The four were found guilty of murdering Mason and Max in Knowle West, Bristol, in a frenzied 33-second attack in January.
They attacked the innocent schoolboy friends as part of a gang “turf war” mistakenly believing they had hurled bricks at a house. Max and Mason were just yards from their home and had been going to get pizza when they were set upon.
The trial heard the gang had been driven by what was described as a “bloody-thirsty” revenge mission. The four teenagers then “tooled themselves up” and were driven by Anthony Snook, 45, to mete out the violent attack. Armed with a machete, zombie knife and baseball bat, they leapt out of the vehicle to attack Mason and Max. Both died later in separate hospitals.
The earlier trial heard Max and Mason had played no part in any attack and were completely innocent victims. All five defendants were found guilty of double murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court. Snook was sentenced earlier this month to a double life sentence and told to serve a minimum of 38 years.
Judge Mrs Justice May jailed the 15-year-old for a minimum term of 15 years and 229 days. The 16-year-old was jailed for 18 years and 44 days. Wescott was jailed for a minimum term of 23 years and 44 days. Tolliver was jailed for a minimum term of 23 years and 47 days.
Mrs Justice May told them: “You were part of a group who attacked and killed two boys. The boys you killed were Mason Rist and Max Dixon. They were your age. They had done nothing wrong. You have heard how much pain you have caused to their families. Max and Mason’s families must go on without them in a different way. Your lives will change too. As Mason’s sister said, there are no winners here.”
Chole said: “I hope you don’t forget Mason as he didn’t deserve this.” As she spoke Tolliver stared straight ahead, while Wescott, dressed in a sky blue tracksuit, fiddled intently with a cord or bracelet.
The 16-year-old appeared the most visibly affected, with his head down at times, and watching Chloe at other times. Addressing the killers, she described her brother as “vulnerable and harmless.”
She said: “He wouldn’t know how to defend himself. Sometimes I want to shake the world to tell everyone how special and important he was. He was a kind, sweet boy. He would smile at anyone. I beat myself up all the time that I did not stop him going out that night.”
She told the court her brother was already dead when she arrived at hospital and added: “I couldn’t see him as I was told he was now evidence. I could not touch my defenceless brother, cuddle him or say goodbye. My mother’s cry I will never get out of my head. I really wanted to die in that moment. It was too much for me to cope with.”
Going back to her mother’s house, Chloe said she had to “walk past the crime scene” outside the house where she “felt safe growing up.” She recalled seeing his “favourite coat ripped up and “two huge piles of blood on the pavement.”
“I ran into my mum’s house and I went straight to his bedroom, praying he was there. When I saw he wasn’t that is when it hit me,” she said. Waking up she saw “even more blood than the previous night” that still haunts her.
She then asked for a lady to visit Mason and put a phone to his ear. She said: “It was so painful everything I said I was waiting for him to reply but he didn’t. At Mason’s funeral I sat in the hearse with him in the hope he would wake up as I was there.”
She added: “Imagine being Mason. The thought of being stabbed once was bad enough – knowing another knife was coming towards you – you know it is going to hurt but you can do nothing but wait for impact – how terrifying it must that have been. What upsets me the most is he tried to get up and go home. He was so close but he didn’t make it.”
