Mother of murdered Max Dixon ‘loses’ her son every day

The mother of a teenage boy who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in Bristol said she “loses her son every day”.

Max Dixon, 16, was stabbed alongside his best friend Mason Rist, 15, in a case of mistaken identity outside Mason’s home in Knowle West, Bristol, on 27 January.

Max’s mother, Leanne Ekland, said: “I didn’t just lose him that night. I lose him every single day”.

The four teenagers found guilty of the boys’ murders are due to be sentenced on 16 December.

“I think about him first thing in the morning, I think about him constantly throughout the day, and then when I go to bed,” said Ms Ekland.

“The only time I can switch off is when I actually fall asleep and then I wake up and reality hits again and I lose him all over again.”

Ms Ekland described her son as a “real mummy’s boy” who was never embarrassed to be seen with her and would walk arm-in-arm with her at school.

After a trial at Bristol Crown Court, Anthony Snook, 45, from Hartcliffe, who was driving the getaway car, was sentenced to a minimum of 38 years in prison.

Riley Tolliver, 18, and three boys, aged 17, 16 and 15, were also found guilty of murder and will be sentenced on 16 December.

Max’s sister, Kayleigh Dixon, said that life was “really quiet” without her brother.

“He had such a great character and he was really loving,” she said. “It’s really quiet without him now.”

Ms Ekland said: “I want to let everyone to know that Max was a great character, full of joy.

“There was never a dull moment when Max was around. You always heard Max before you saw him.”

During an interview with BBC Breakfast, Ms Ekland called for people to “think twice” and not get involved in knife crime, saying that both her family and Mason’s had been “destroyed” by the attack.

Snook drove the four teenagers to and from Knowle West as part of a revenge mission after a house in the rival Hartcliffe area was attacked by masked youths.

Max and Mason died from stab wounds after being chased by the armed group.

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

Since Max’s death, his family have set up the Max Dixon Foundation to raise money to distribute portable bleed kits.

The kits have been developed in partnership with Park Knowle FC, the football club that Max used to play for.

Ms Ekland said her aim was to make the bleed kits easily accessible.

“If there’s so many available, if there’s two or three victims, you don’t just have to choose just one victim,” she said.