A High Court judge lifted reporting restrictions and ruled the 15-year-old could be named
11:31, 12 Feb 2026Updated 11:50, 12 Feb 2026
The twisted killer of Leo Ross(Image: WMP)
A teenager who murdered a 12-year-old boy who was walking home from school can finally be named.
He is Kian Moulton, now aged 15, of Yardley. He is being held at a young offender institution in London.
Following applications from Birmingham Live, the Daily Mail and the BBC, High Court judge Justice Choudhury lifted reporting restrictions before sentencing him to life with a minimum term of 13 years at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, February 10.
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But for further legal reasons we have had to wait until now to confirm his identity. We do not yet have a picture of him which fully shows his face.
Moulton was 14 when he fatally stabbed Leo Ross in the stomach at Trittiford Mill Park in Hall Green at around 3.30pm on January 21 last year.
The random, unprovoked and senseless killing was the culmination of a three-day rampage in the park in which he also attacked three elderly women.
Moulton, who lived nearby, had terrorised the nature reserve, cycling around looking for vulnerable people to target.
He then hung around the scene to get sick pleasure from the chaos he had caused.
Leo Ross(Image: WMP)
The court heard Moulton had a ‘difficult childhood’ which involved being exposed to domestic abuse and the separation of his parents while he was very young.
He has had little meaningful contact with his mother since the age of four and his primary carer was his father.
Both later told psychiatrists he had liked violence and seemed to derive enjoyment from it.
His behavioural problems started when he was as young as two. But it was not until the age of seven that he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as well as oppositional defiance disorder (ODD).
That resulted in disruptive behaviour, anger and resentment towards figures in authority.
Occasionally, he directed violence towards himself with episodes of self-harm.
The court was told he had a habit of beating himself in the face and saving his blood.
Moulton repeatedly said his parents would be ‘better off’ if he were dead and he previously attempted to take his own life.
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Not long before he committed the offences in January last year, the police removed him from railway lines where he had gone intending to commit suicide.
He was resistant to officers when they tried to help him.
Moulton has not had access to consistent support services throughout his childhood.
He claimed to be hearing voices around the same time as he committed the attacks.
His barrister said he was ‘surprised’ he had not been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but added he may be ‘too young for that’.
Psychiatrists concluded he had a severe ‘conduct disorder’ but stated it did not provide him with any defence for his actions.
But Moulton’s refusal to talk about killing Leo and his state of mind at the time has made it difficult for experts to assess the impact of his mental health on his actions.
(Image: WEST MIDLANDS POLICE)
He formally admitted murder, two offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm, assault and possession of a knife in public at a court hearing last month.
However, Moulton confessed his guilt long before that. In a chilling note found in his custodial room in July last year he wrote: “I’m not going to lie. I will hold my hands up and say that I done it. I stabbed him. Lower right stomach.”
It was also revealed that while in custody there have been further incidents of him being violent to staff and fellow inmates, as well as himself.
There has been little progress in his rehabilitation so far, if any at all.
Justice Choudhury, passing sentence, branded his actions ‘cowardly’ for targeting people vulnerable to him.
He also declared he lacked the ‘basic insight’ into the consequences, and said: “There is some suggestion in the reports that you are young for your age.
“However, it seems to me that your actions around the time of your offending indicate quite sophisticated, devious and callous thinking designed to throw people off your trail or to extract additional amusement from what you had done.
“I do not regard your perceived immaturity as in any way mitigating what you did.”
Alistair Webster KC, defending Moulton, said it was ‘impossible to give a logical reason’ for what he did.
He confirmed his behaviour has shocked his own family, who have been forced to move away.
The barrister added: “He will require, and I hope he gets, intensive work, aggressive work over the next few years if there is to be any significant hope of rehabilitation.”