Teenager sentenced for murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross who was stabbed in random attack

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, who was 14 at the time of the attack and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to murder at a hearing in January. He also admitted to three separate attacks on elderly women.

During sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice Choudhury told the defendant his actions were "cowardly" but also "indicate quite sophisticated and callous thinking".

"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. He had been walking home from school when he was stabbed.

Leo's mother, Rachel Fisher, delivered a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing and said her family had been "shattered" by his death.

The defendant looked at the floor as Ms Fisher sobbed and said: "Everyone has lost the most beautiful little soul, for what? We won't ever know why such an innocent young boy, just walking home from school, minding his business, was robbed of his life for no reason whatsoever."

Leo's mother later spoke outside the court and said the 13-year sentence was a "joke".

"Thirteen years is a complete and utter joke, and it's just going to keep on happening and keep on happening until something's done about it," she said.

"These kids aren't scared. They aren't scared of the sentence. They're not worried."

In a statement read by police, Leo's foster family, the Westons, said he was "deeply loved" and killed in a "senseless and unprovoked act of violence", but added that today's sentence "marks neither closure nor healing".

The defendant 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 the separate attacks on other victims.

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.

After applications from the media, the judge ruled Leo's killer would be named on Wednesday, unless there was an appeal, to allow the public to know "what could have led a child to commit such acts".

(c) Sky News 2026: Teenager sentenced for murder of 12-year-old Leo Ross who was stabbed in random attack