The mum of a murdered teen has revealed her son’s killer was found with a machete just days before the attack – but was let go after telling cops it was for fishing.
Nikki Knight’s son, Mason Rist, 15, and his friend, Max Dixon, 16, were stabbed in a ‘revenge attack’ while on their way to get pizza in Bristol.
Anthony Snook, 45, arrived in his Audi with Riley Tolliver, 18, Kodi Wescott, 17, and two teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Mason’s mum, Nikki, 52, has since been informed of a vital ‘missed opportunity’ to stop the killings when Snook wasn’t detained despite a machete being found in the boot of his car eight days earlier.
It has since emerged that Snook had justified possession of the knife by telling cops he was a keen angler and the weapon was part of his regular fishing equipment.
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And Nikki said she was now focusing on spending 2026 doing what she can to hold a range of authorities to account after accusing them of failing to safeguard the teenage victims.
She said: ‘The authorities have failed the kids. Just days before the murders they found a machete in the boot of Antony Snook’s car.
‘He was not arrested, and it was not given as evidence. The worst thing about it is that they sent him on his way. Just days later, he had murdered two innocent boys.’
CCTV footage from Nikki’s house captured the horrific 33-second attack, which began when four youths jumped out of the vehicle on Mason’s doorstep.
Brandishing weapons including a machete, zombie knife and baseball bat, Max and Mason suffered ‘unsurvivable’ stab wounds before the attackers fled.
During the trial, Snook had tried to claim he didn’t know the teens were armed and denied that any of the knives could have already been in his car.
But Nikki said she was told that just eight days earlier, on Friday, January 19, 2024, Snook had a machete-style knife confiscated.
The incident was reported for ‘futher enquiries’, but Snook wasn’t arrested and was allowed to continue his journey.
He had reportedly told cops he was an ‘avid angler’ and the knife was part of his fishing equipment.
Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service ruled it was not in the public interest to pursue the possession charge against Snook after he was sentenced to a minimum of 38 years for the double murder of Max and Mason.
Avon and Somerset Police said the way the incident was dealt with was reviewed and deemed the officer’s actions ‘entirely appropriate’, and no further action would be taken.
But Nikki said the authorities as a whole had ‘failed’ the victims.
She added: ‘If he had been remanded, then this tragedy wouldn’t have happened. The police just let him go. That is all I was told – the end of the conversation. They just took the weapon off him and sent him on his way.
‘They should have kept our kids safe, but they failed them badly.’
Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement: ‘We detained and reported Snook at the roadside for being in possession of a bladed article (after a knife was found in his boot), which he stated he used for fishing.
‘The knife was seized, and the case against him was not continued after he was charged and later sentenced for the murder.’
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