But a young mum who drove two of the killers out of Bristol was spared jail
15:53, 06 Feb 2026Updated 16:03, 06 Feb 2026
Judge jails two for assisting teen killers
Two men who helped the killers of South Bristol teenagers Max Dixon and Mason Rist get out of Bristol in the aftermath of their murders have been jailed, and another two women have been made the subject on non-custodial orders, on an emotional day at Bristol Crown Court.
Marcus Williams and Dominic Smith were both sentenced to four years in prison, for their role in the aftermath of the double murders of the two best friends in Knowle West back in January 2024.
Smith’s partner Ellie May Maddocks was given a two-year suspended sentence with 120 hours of community service, while Jillian Tolliver – the mother of teen murderer Riley Tolliver – was given a supervision order after she was deemed unfit to stand trial last year.
Williams, a 32-year-old from Hartcliffe, was paid by Jillian Tolliver to drive her son Riley, who was 17 at the time, out of South Bristol and to his grandmother’s in Weston-super-Mare in the hours after he took part in the brutal attack in Knowle West which killed Max and Mason.
Dominic Smith and Ellie May Maddocks allowed another two of the killers – Kodi Wescott and a younger teen who cannot be named for legal reasons – to stay at their flat in Westbury-on-Trym on the night after the murders, and then Maddocks, who was five months pregnant at the time, drove the pair to Weston as the police net closed in.
Kodi Wescott, Antony Snook and Riley Tolliver(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
The judge in the case, Hon Peter Blair KC, said that if Jillian Tolliver had been fit to stand trial, she would have been jailed for a long time, as she was the ‘most culpable’ of all the offenders.
Riley Tolliver’s father Kristian Hooper was also put on trial alongside the others late last year, on a charge of assisting an offender, but the jury failed to reach a verdict in his case, and the CPS have since said they will not be applying for a re-trial.
Judge Blair said he was sparing Maddocks jail because she has a daughter under the age of two, and because he believed she was ‘imposed upon’ by her partner Smith to allow the two teens to stay at her flat.
During the sentencing hearing, the families of Max and Mason gave evidence of the impact of their murders on their lives. They also spoke of how the fact those accused of assisting the killers had pleaded ‘not guilty’ had added to their trauma because they had to sit through another trial – the third court case held in relation to the double murders.
Leanne Ekland, the mum of Max Dixon, left, with Nikki Knight, the mum of Mason Rist, at an event to mark the first anniversary of the two boys’ murders(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
Four teenagers and an adult – Anthony Snook – were jailed for life after an eight week trial at the end of 2024, and two men, Bailey Wescott and Jamie Ogbourne, were jailed for five years at the start of 2025 after pleading guilty to assisting an offender.
The five accused pleading ‘not guilty’ and having a trial added to the impact of the murders of their sons and brothers, the families told the court.
Nikki Knight, Mason’s mum, told the court: “These are people who chose to help the killers instead of helping the victims get justice. They looked this court in the eye and denied wrongdoing. This caused me and my family to sit through more hearings and relive the trauma.”
Max’s mum Leanne Ekland fought back the tears to read out her own victim impact statement. There were tears in the public gallery and on the jury benches, where seven of those who were members of the jury in the trial before Christmas returned to see the sentencing.
Leanne Ekland with son Max Dixon(Image: Leanne Ekland / SWNS)
“Nothing will bring back our boys,” said Leanne. “They were not postcodes. They must have been terrified that night. The only comfort I take from this is that both boys went together.”
Max’s sister Kayleigh Dixon explained to the judge how Max’s murder had ‘completely torn me apart’ and she has suffered from night terrors for two years.
She condemned those in the dock for pleading not guilty and forcing them through another trial, where they were ‘staring at us, smirking and joking’ during the proceedings.
Mason’s sister Chloe graphically described how her brother was murdered. He was beaten with a baseball bat by Riley Tolliver before being stabbed by one of the unnamed teenagers and then again by Kodi Wescott.
She also told the judge and those in the dock in great detail the logistics of what happened to Mason’s body in the days after his death, poignantly describing how the family took the decision to have him cremated because of the injuries he suffered.
“Seeing Mason’s clothes that he wore that night and died in, it was heart-wrenching,” she told those in the dock. “I wish you could see the blood-soaked t-shirt and multiple rips, it was completely torn up. Seeing how big the machete wounds were, I remember seeing his top and how small it looked, with it reading inside ‘child junior size’,” she added.
Mason and his sister Chloe(Image: Mason Rist family)
She also spoke emotionally about the lasting impact on her family. “My kids have seen me cry more times than what is normal,” she said. “My son has bereavement counselling at school because he draws pictures of Mason on the road dead with blood around him. He tells me: ‘Don’t worry mum I will go to heaven planet and get Mason back for you’.
“I didn’t let them go to school and this trial has taken me away from them again, time I won’t get back,” she said. “Mason was a good, kind person that didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
Sentencing the three and passing an order on Tolliver, Judge Peter Blair said a ‘line must be drawn’ in the ongoing feud between Hartcliffe and Knowle West, and it was down to parents and grandparents to put a stop to it.
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Jailing the two men for four years, he said he wanted to show an example to others that helping people in this sort of situation has consequences.
In the case of Ellie May Maddocks, Judge Blair said he had listened to her KC’s mitigation that taking her away from her daughter of 20 months would damage the child.
“In your case I am not at all sure how much you knew about the two boys your partner imposed upon you,” the judge told Maddocks. “But by foolishly pleading not guilty and lying to the jury, you have no mitigation available to you.”
Ellie-Mae Maddocks(Image: Avon and Somerset Police )
Judge Blair said he took into account other cases where young mums face a prison sentence.
“Your child would be affected for life if I made your sentence immediate,” he said. “In those circumstances I am persuaded that the appropriate sentence is two years in prison but suspended for two years, as well as 120 hours of community service over 15 days.”
Outside court, Mason’s uncle David Knight, said Ellie May Maddocks was ‘lucky’ she had a young child because she would have gone to prison too.
Mason Rist, 15, (left) and Max Dixon, 16, were best friends murdered in Knowle West, South Bristol in January 2024(Image: Rist and Dixon families)
“Nothing is going to be the same again. We always thought Ellie Maddocks having a young child would mean she received a lesser sentence,” he said.
“It’s hard listening to her barrister talking about how her and Dominic’s daughter is at a ‘crucial age’. The thing is Mason was 15 and not even left school – that’s a crucial age. Max was 16, was just about to leave school and go into the world – that is a crucial age – that’s been taken. So Ellie Maddocks should count herself very lucky that she has her baby, because if she didn’t… It’s her baby that has kept her out of jail,” he added.
Avon and Somerset police welcomed the sentences. DC Matthew Cron, the officer in the case, said: “Eleven people have been sentenced in connection with Max and Mason’s deaths – the five who murdered them and six who helped them in the subsequent hours.
READ MORE: Heartbreaking milestone as murdered Mason Rist is rememberedREAD MORE: Trio guilty of assisting killers of teens Max and Mason
“Today marks the final chapter of the legal proceedings but we realise nothing will ever ease the pain that both families continue to endure.
“Over the past two years, Max and Mason’s families have shown remarkable strength, patience and courage, for which we are especially grateful,” he added