Killer who murdered Leo Ross, 12, in random Birmingham attack detained for at least 13 years

The 15-year-old boy who stabbed Leo Ross to death in a random attack and tried to drown an 82-year-old woman and attacked two other elderly women days before the fatal incident has been detained for a minimum of 13 years.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, injured three women in separate attacks in the days before he stabbed 12-year-old Leo in the stomach as he walked home from school through a country park.

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Leo died after being taken to hospital from a riverside path in Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham, on January 21 last year.

He admitted Leo’s murder at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court in January.

The defendant, who was aged 14 at time of the killing, also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on January 19 and 20 2025 and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 21 2025 in relation to the separate attacks on other victims, as well as having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.

He denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm on October 22 2024 and assault by beating on December 29 2024 in relation to two further victims, and those charges were ordered to lie on file.

Prosecution counsel Rachel Brand KC told a sentencing hearing at the same court on Tuesday that the defendant, who sat in the dock wearing a navy blue Nike tracksuit, had attacked women in the days before he killed Leo.

Describing the first incident, Ms Brand said Leo’s killer told an 82-year-old woman, “I tried to drown you, but now I’m going to kill you” after pushing her into a river and hitting her with her own walking pole.

The woman was walking alone in the country park at some point between 12.30pm and 1.15pm on January 19 when she was injured.

Ms Brand said: “The defendant approached her from behind and pushed her forcefully down and forward. She fell into a ditch next to the river. She believes she had been underwater and found herself soaked.

“The defendant told her, ‘I tried to drown you. But now I’m going to kill you instead’, and he struck her several times with her own walking pole.”

The court heard the 15-year-old attacker then told her “I would like to get some help, but you will tell on me”.

He went on to tell someone nearby “there’s an old lady in the water and she needs help”, the court heard.

When the passer-by went to help, the victim was “injured and very shocked” and told him she thought she was going to die, the court heard.

The victim was taken to hospital and was found to have sustained multiple bruises and a laceration to her head, a broken nose and black eyes.

She had also fractured a rib and two of her fingers, which required surgery.

The court heard a 72-year-old woman was attacked the day before he murdered the 12-year-old schoolboy, causing her to bleed “profusely” from a head wound.

Ms Brand said: “(The defendant), on his bicycle, approached her from behind and either pushed or struck her with an object on the left side of her back.

“Before leaving the area, he said ‘I’m sorry’.”

The woman, who was found on the ground by a passer-by, became unconscious and was “bleeding profusely from a wound to her head”, the court heard.

She suffered broken ribs in the attack and had to have hip replacement surgery.

In a witness statement given to the police, the woman said: “I think this incident will make me feel nervous about going out alone. I feel emotional about what has happened.”

The courtroom was packed with members of Leo’s family as the sentencing hearing got under way on Tuesday afternoon.

After applications from the media, judge Mr Justice Choudhury KC said, in his view, the killer should be named because of the public interest in the case.

After allowing defence barrister Alistair Webster KC some time to consider the ruling, the judge said the teenager can be identified in reporting from 1pm on February 11 to allow time for a possible appeal of the decision.

The judge said: “The defendant has pleaded guilty and falls to be sentenced for very serious crimes, including murder – the most serious of all.”

The judge said the public would want to know “what could have led a child to commit such acts”.

Addressing the safety of the defendant in the secure institution he is being detained in, Mr Justice Choudhury said: “Many of the incidents of violence recorded as involving the defendant over the last year while in detention have involved violence by him on others or on himself.”

He added that some of the other boys in the facility already know the defendant’s identity, which “has not resulted in any attacks” on him.

The hearing continues.