'I lost my innocent boy to knife crime – please don't carry blades'
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A mother has called for better education in schools around the laws of joint enterprise after five people were jailed for life for murdering her son. Max Dixon, 16, and his best friend Mason Rist, 15, were stabbed to death with machetes yards from Mason's front door in Knowle West, Bristol, in January.
Max's mum Leanne Ekland hopes the sentences handed to four teenagers last week, as well as the hefty sentence handed to the man who drove the gang who killed her son, will put teenagers off carrying knives, Bristol Live reports. The four teens involved were detained for life and given minimum terms before they will be eligible for parole. Riley Tolliver, 18, and Kodishai Wescott, 17, were told they would each be detained for a minimum of 23 years. They can be identified after reporting restrictions were lifted. A 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were detained for life with minimum terms of 15 and 18 years respectively.
Leanne wants to see more education in schools about the consequences of carrying knives, and being involved in gangs and groups where knives are carried. She said the school where she worked and both Max and Mason attended - Oasis John Williams in Hengrove - has already begun to teach the young people there about the law.
The murders shocked the nation in part because it was two best friends killed for no reason outside their homes, but also because of the joint enterprise nature of the court case that saw five people convicted of murder, when only two inflicted fatal injuries.
