Youth sentenced for knife attack on stranger hours before double murder

Independent

15-04-2025

A teenager has been sentenced for stabbing a 17-year-old stranger with a large Rambo knife just hours before he murdered two boys in Bristol.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, criminal damage and being in possession of an offensive weapon with a 25.5cm blade.
Bristol Crown Court heard the offences took place in the early hours of January 27 2024, which was the same day as Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, were killed in the Knowle West area of the city.
Judge Peter Blair KC sentenced the boy to four years' detention with a further three years on licence for the knife attack, which took place in the Bishopsworth area.
The youth will serve this sentence concurrently to the detention for life with a minimum term of 18 years and 44 days he received for the murders of Max and Mason, who he did not physically attack.
Judge Blair told him: 'The circumstances were horrific.
'A young man, then aged 17, was driving a car with some passengers. He turned down a road that he hadn't intended to find himself on and there you were and flagged the car down.
'Once he had opened the window, you set about trying to stab him through the driver's window with a fearsome and highly dangerous weapon.
'You stabbed him in the arm and the leg but most seriously, you cut his right hand and his middle finger in particular, causing terrible damage to his tendons and nerve.
'The other people in the car began to look as though they were going to do try to get out and you then set about hitting windows with your knife.
'Thankfully that enabled the victim to drive off. The potential outcome in that car is hard to imagine but for him managing to get away from you.
'Quite what was in your mind is almost impossible to imagine.'
The judge said the victim had undergone operations on his hand and his injuries had 'drastically affected' his life plans.
He told the defendant: 'I consider that you are dangerous. There can be no other conclusion.
'You are already sentenced to detention at His Majesty's pleasure for no less than 18 years and 44 days as a result of your conviction by a jury of your part in the murders of two other children in this city.
'Your release will not be until it is considered that you are safe for release.'
The judge sentenced the youth to four years in detention, with an extended period of three years on licence for the grievous bodily harm charge, and eight months detention for possession of a bladed article.
He did not impose a separate penalty for the charge of criminal damage, relating to the victim's Toyota Aygo car.
Prosecuting, James Haskell said the defendant was aged 15 at the time of the offences and there was 'no connection' between himself and the victim.
Mr Haskell described how the victim had been driving to McDonalds when he 'took a wrong turn and ended up on Lakeshore Drive'.
'As he approached the junction, he saw a person come from underneath the bridge wearing a balaclava and waving him down,' Mr Haskell told the court.
'He said he saw the defendant remove something from his waistband which turned out to be a large knife.'
After he escaped, the victim attended Southmead Hospital for treatment.
He initially told hospital staff and police that he had injured himself cutting onions, the court heard.
Mr Haskell added: 'In his subsequent interview, he accepted that account wasn't true. He said he had said that because he didn't want any problems and was scared.'
The court heard a large Rambo-style knife was later recovered from a property connected to the attack on Max and Mason – who were killed in a case of mistaken identity.
Blood on the weapon matched that of the victim, while the defendant's DNA was found on the handle.
The defendant was arrested and answered 'no comment' to questions in police interview.
Mr Haskell said he had been given a referral order after being convicted of possessing a kitchen knife in August 2021, when he was aged 13, and for possessing a knuckle duster in June 2022.
Ramin Pakrooh, mitigating, said his client was in a period of 'behavioural decline' when he committed the offence and the double murders.
Referring to his time in custody, Mr Pakrooh said: 'He appears to have flourished and taken the opportunity for education there with both hands.'
Mr Pakrooh added that an order banning the publication of anything that would identify his client should not be lifted, as it would link him to the murders of Max and Mason.
Mrs Justice May previously ruled that the youth should not be named in relation to those proceedings until he is aged 18.
Four other people: Antony Snook, 45; Riley Tolliver, 18; Kodi-Shai Wescott, 17; and a 15-year-old boy; were also sentenced for the murders in December last year.
Max and Mason, who had been best friends since nursery, died from stab wounds after being attacked outside Mason's home on Ilminster Avenue on January 27 last year.
Bailey Wescott, 23 of Whitchurch, and Jamie Ogbourne, 27 of Hartcliffe, were also jailed in December for five years and three months after admitting two counts each of assisting an offender.