The killer of 12-year-old Leo Ross, who murdered the schoolboy in a ‘random’ knife frenzy as he walked home in Birmingham, has been pictured for the first timeCarl Jackson, Patrick Hill Senior News Reporter and Emma O’Neill Content Editor
11:38, 12 Feb 2026Updated 13:39, 12 Feb 2026
Teen speaks to police where Leo Ross died
A teenage killer who launched a horror knife attack on 12-year-old Leo Ross has been pictured for the first time.
Kian Moulton was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 13 years for the murder on Tuesday.
Leo Ross was walking home from school in Birmingham on January 21 last year when he was stabbed to death in a “random attack” by Kian Moulton, then 14-years-old. Moulton, who is now 15, pleaded guilty to killing Leo at a hearing last month.
Leo Ross, 12, was tragically killed on his way home from school last year(Image: PA)
The court previously heard how the teen showed no remorse and gave no explanation after his arrest during an interview with police, only saying “no comment” when asked about Leo’s murder and earlier assaults.
The killer had also tried to drown an 82-year-old woman days before the fatal incident, the court heard. He injured three women in separate attacks in the days before he stabbed Leo in the stomach, Birmingham Live reports.
Leo died after being taken to hospital from a riverside path in Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham.
The defendant also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent on January 19 and 20 2025 and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 21 2025 in relation to the separate attacks on other victims, as well as having a bladed article on the day he killed Leo.
He denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm on October 22, 2024 and assault by beating on December 29 2024 in relation to two further victims, and those charges were ordered to lie on file.
(Image: West Midlands Police / SWNS)
The courtroom was packed with members of Leo’s family as the sentencing hearing got under way on Tuesday afternoon. After applications from the media, judge Mr Justice Choudhury KC said, in his view, the killer should be named because of the public interest in the case.
The judge said: “The defendant has pleaded guilty and falls to be sentenced for very serious crimes, including murder – the most serious of all.” The judge said the public would want to know “what could have led a child to commit such acts”.
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.
Addressing the safety of the defendant in the secure institution he is being detained in, Mr Justice Choudhury said: “Many of the incidents of violence recorded as involving the defendant over the last year while in detention have involved violence by him on others or on himself.”
Kian Moulton
He added that some of the other boys in the facility already know the defendant’s identity, which “has not resulted in any attacks” on him.
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.
Leo Ross’s teenage killer, Kian Moulton
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.