Boy, 15, pleads guilty to murder of Leo Ross, 12, in Birmingham

A teenager has pleaded guilty to murdering a 12-year-old Birmingham boy, Leo Ross, by stabbing him in the stomach during a random attack in parkland.Leo died after being taken to hospital from a riverside path in Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham, on 21 January last year.Leo, described in a family statement released shortly after his death as an “amazing, kind, loving” boy, was walking home from the Christ Church, Church of England secondary academy in Yardley Wood when he was stabbed.His attacker, who was 14 at the time and is now 15, 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 and assault by beating in relation to two other people 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 hunted down and attacked several women in local parkland.An inquiry by West Midlands Police also found that the killer, who cannot be identified because of his age, 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’s guilty pleas were entered more than six months after his trial was postponed to allow psychiatric experts to assess him.Judge Farrer KC said sentencing would be on 10 February and was likely to last the full day.He told the defendant: “I can’t sentence you today for a number of reasons. You will be sentenced on the 10th of February and you will be brought from wherever you are being kept to Birmingham where you can speak to your lawyers. In the meantime, you are remanded into youth detention.”Speaking after the hearing, Jonathan Roe, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a senseless act of violence that has devastated a family and robbed a 12-year-old boy of his life.“The defendant’s guilty plea today means Leo’s loved ones have at least been spared the ordeal of a trial. Our thoughts remain with them as they continue to cope with this unimaginable loss.”In a statement released through West Midlands Police, Leo’s foster family 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, added: “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 whatsoever.“My life will never be the same again without him. He will be loved and missed for ever.”