Teen killer stabbed another boy night before double murder attack (2025)

The attack happened less than 24 hours before he was involved in the double murder

A teenage boy from Bristol who is currently serving a life sentence for his part in the double murder of Max Dixon and Mason Rist last year has been given a four-year prison sentence for stabbing another teenager the night before the attack in Knowle West.

The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one charge of causing grievous bodily harm and possessing what the judge at Bristol Crown Court described as a 'fearsome and highly dangerous weapon'.

But at Bristol Crown Court today (Tuesday, April 15) the judge imposed a four year detention order to run concurrently, meaning the teenager will not serve any extra time in prison for this extra offence.

The attack near the Imperial Retail Park in South Bristol left his teenage victim requiring surgery to his hands.

The judge heard it was a random attack which happened after the victim got lost in the sliproad system off the Airport Road and was flagged down by the boy, who was wearing a balaclava.

The attack happened just after 1am on Saturday, January 27 last year at Lakeshore Drive, the road that connects Imperial Retail Park with the Airport Road dual carriageway.

Around 20 hours later on the Saturday evening, the teenage attacker, who was just 15 at the time, was one of a group of four teenagers driven around Knowle West.

They mounted an ambush attack at random on the first two teenagers they saw - leaving Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, 15, stabbed to death.

Police were only able to link the boy with the earlier attack at Lakeshore Drive because they found the 'fearsome' ten-inch blade as part of the investigation into the murders of Max and Mason.

The blade was discovered in a search of the home of Kodi Wescott, who has also been jailed for life for the double murder.

Fingerprints linked the Rambo knife to the unnamed teenager, but bloodstains on the blade did not match either Max or Mason, but police did eventually match it to the victim from the attack the night before.

A two-month long trial, which concluded with all five accused convicted of both murders, had heard the teenager - the second youngest of the accused - joined the attack and brandished a long blade but didn't stab either of the boys.

He was convicted on the basis of joint enterprise - his presence and his actions contributed to the murders, even though he did not inflict the fatal blows.

The earlier attack was not connected with the attack on Max and Mason, and nor did the victim of the Lakeshore Drive assault know the then 15-year-old who attacked him.

Judge Peter Blair 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.

The judge ordered that the sentence run concurrently with his existing sentence for the double murder.

He was jailed for life in December last year for the double murder, and told he must serve a minimum time of 18 years and 44 days before he is eligible for parole.

"The circumstances were horrific," the judge said, sentencing the teenager. "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 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."

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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," he added.

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 McDonald's 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," he said. 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 murder.

Referring to his time in custody, Mr Pakrooh said: "He appears to have flourished and taken the opportunity for education there with both hands."