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Teenage boy who admitted murdering Leo Ross, 12, due to be sentenced today
A teenage boy who murdered 12-year-old schoolboy Leo Ross in Birmingham last year will be sentenced later today.
The hearing at Birmingham Crown Court is likely to last all day and will contain information readers may find distressing.
On 29 January 2026, a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to murdering Leo by stabbing him in the stomach during a random attack in parkland.
Leo was thought to have been making his way home from his school, the Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy, in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, when he was stabbed on 21 January 2025.
His attacker, who was 14 at the time, has also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to previous attacks on separate victims, as well as having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.
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, and those charges were ordered to lie on file.
Police inquiries established that the knife used to kill Leo was thrown into a nearby river, and that the boy responsible, riding a bike, had previously attacked several women in local parkland.
An inquiry by West Midlands police also found that the killer opted to wait around to talk to officers at the murder scene, falsely claiming he had stumbled across Leo lying fatally injured beside the River Cole.
It emerged that Leo had no connection with his attacker and was killed in what senior officers believe was a random and unprovoked stabbing. The defendant is expected to appear in front of Justice Choudhury KC for sentencing.
Key events
Leo Ross’s foster family is in court this morning to hear the judge pass his sentence, due this afternoon.
Leo Ross’s killer remains ‘a young and vulnerable human being’, defence lawyer says
Defence lawyer Alistair Webster KC is arguing against the lifting of the reporting restriction. He told the court it was not in the public interest to name the defendant, adding there is significant risk to his rehabilitation if his identity is revealed.
He said:
These were shocking offences which have caused a great deal of sorrow and ongoing sense of loss to the families and victims involved.
We recognise the public and the press will be very interested in how the court deals with the sentence and what the sentence is …
But it is sometimes easy to confuse the public interest with an interest on behalf of the public.
While accepting what the defendant “did was very wrong”, the defence lawyer added: “He remains a human being and a young and vulnerable human being.”
According to the Mirror, one application from the media has been raised by Carl Jackson, a court reporter for Birmingham Live.
Justice Choudhury KC has adjourned the court to re-read submissions from the media who want the defendant’s name to be revealed. The court is expected to reconvene in about half an hour.
Sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court begins
The sentencing hearing has begun. First, there will be technical arguments heard about the naming of the defendant, 15, whose identity has not been revealed due to legal restrictions around his age.
We are just waiting for the sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court to begin now. It should do shortly.
Leo was found by a member of the public having been stabbed in the stomach at about 3.40pm on 21 January 2025. Police said it was a “chaotic and absolutely traumatic scene”. He was transported to hospital where he died from his injuries at about 7.30pm.
Police said he had been speaking to a friend on the phone, arranging to meet near a tree in Trittiford Mill Park. His friend turned up at the meeting point but Leo never did.
Leo was ‘the sweetest, kindest boy’ whose life was ‘cut short by a senseless act’, family says
In a statement released after his death, Leo’s foster family, the Westons, said:
Not a day goes by where we don’t think about Leo. His loss has impacted us deeply and his absence is felt constantly.
Leo was the sweetest, kindest boy who put others before himself. He was loved by all that knew him, he made friends with everyone he met, young or old.
He was wise beyond his years, full of knowledge and facts, full of life. A life cut short by a senseless act.
We hope justice is served and we can get some closure, whatever the outcome, it still does not give Leo his life back, the life he truly deserved to live to its fullest.
Leo’s birth mother Rachel Fisher said:
My son Leo was the sweetest, most kind-hearted boy. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body.
My baby’s life was stolen for no reason what so ever. My life will never be the same again without him. He will be loved and missed forever.
Teenage boy who admitted murdering Leo Ross, 12, due to be sentenced today
A teenage boy who murdered 12-year-old schoolboy Leo Ross in Birmingham last year will be sentenced later today.
The hearing at Birmingham Crown Court is likely to last all day and will contain information readers may find distressing.
On 29 January 2026, a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to murdering Leo by stabbing him in the stomach during a random attack in parkland.
Leo was thought to have been making his way home from his school, the Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy, in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, when he was stabbed on 21 January 2025.
His attacker, who was 14 at the time, has also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to previous attacks on separate victims, as well as having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.
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, and those charges were ordered to lie on file.
Police inquiries established that the knife used to kill Leo was thrown into a nearby river, and that the boy responsible, riding a bike, had previously attacked several women in local parkland.
An inquiry by West Midlands police also found that the killer opted to wait around to talk to officers at the murder scene, falsely claiming he had stumbled across Leo lying fatally injured beside the River Cole.
It emerged that Leo had no connection with his attacker and was killed in what senior officers believe was a random and unprovoked stabbing. The defendant is expected to appear in front of Justice Choudhury KC for sentencing.
