UPDATED: CPS authorises charges against four further suspects following Bristol stabbings
Victoria Cook, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South West, said:
“Prosecutors from CPS South West’s Complex Casework Unit have today (1 February) authorised charges against four more suspects in connection with the stabbings of 16-year-old Max Dixon and 15-year-old Mason Rist.
“Two youths, aged 15 and 16-years-old, have been charged with two counts of murder. Bailey Westcott, 22, and Jamie Ogbourne, 26, have been charged with two counts of assisting an offender.
“These four have been remanded in custody and will appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court tomorrow (2 February).
“As criminal proceedings are now active, there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Notes to editors
- Anthony Snook, 44, of Hartcliffe, Bristol, has already been charged with two counts of murder in accordance with our Code for Crown Prosecutors. His first court appearance was on 1 February.
- Victoria Cook is Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS South West.
- Bailey Westcott, 22, of Bristol, and Jamie Ogbourne, 26, of Chestnut House, Bristol, have been charged with two counts of assisting an offender.
- It is not the function of the CPS to determine whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.
- The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with our Code for Crown Prosecutors.