A teenage boy who murdered 12-year-old Birmingham schoolboy Leo Ross by stabbing him in the stomach in a random attack has been detained for a minimum of 13 years.
The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to murder at a hearing in January.
During sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Choudhury told the defendant his actions “indicate quite sophisticated and callous thinking”, including a separate attempt to drown an 82-year-old woman.
“You engaged in a campaign of serious violence against different people, culminating in the fatal stabbing of Leo. The devastation you have caused to so many lives is hard to comprehend,” he added.
Leo died after being taken to hospital from a riverside path in Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham, on 21 January last year.
Leo Ross
He had been walking home from school when he was stabbed and was described by his family shortly after his death as an “amazing, kind, loving” boy.
His killer was 14 at the time of the attack.
He also admitted to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on the 19 and 20 January and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 21 January 2025, in relation to separate attacks on other victims.
A mural dedicated to Leo Ross on Scribers Lane in Birmingham. Pic: PA
The boy also admitted to having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.
However, he denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm on 22 October 2024 and assault by beating on 29 December 2024 in relation to two further victims – those charges were ordered to lie on file.
Police inquiries established that the knife used to kill Leo was thrown into a nearby river, while the youth had previously hunted down and attacked several women, including an 82-year-old woman who suffered several broken bones.
“The savagery required to inflict such injuries to a defenceless elderly lady is hard to comprehend,” Mr Justice Choudhury told the defendant.
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West Midlands Police also found that the killer, who had been riding a bike, had opted to hang around to talk to officers at the murder scene, falsely claiming he had stumbled across Leo lying fatally injured beside the River Cole.
The judge said the defendant’s behaviour of pretending he was an innocent bystander was part of a pattern in which he enjoyed “witnessing the havoc you have created”.
Leo had no connection with his attacker and was subjected to what senior officers believe was a completely random and unprovoked stabbing.