The dad of murdered 12-year-old schoolboy Leo Ross has told of his anger at his son’s killer and called for him to never be released from jail.
The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was today sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 13 years for stabbing Leo to death while he was walking home from school. The twisted teen has shown no remorse since the sickening murder just over 12 months ago and even attempted to goad his victim’s family in court.
Giving us an exclusive interview, Leo’s heartbroken dad Chris, 39, told the Mirror: “He should be in jail for life. He has shown no remorse, but could be out in his 20s. How is that justice? That ain’t justice. If you kill someone you should do life yourself. I think that’s fair.”
The killer, who had previously been kicked out of full-time education, wasn’t known to Leo, who was described by police as a model student with an unblemished behavioural record. He was captured in chilling footage cycling around as Leo made his way home from school in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, on January 21 last year.
He went on to brutally knife Leo in the stomach with a kitchen knife in what police have said was a “completely random and unprovoked” attack while out “hunting” someone to target. The attack was brutal violence purely for violence’s sake, detectives have said.
They believe the cowardly killer, who was aged 14, singled Leo out because he was “much physically bigger” than him and Leo represented an “easy target” while walking home alone.
Chris was left devastated by coming face-to-face with Leo’s callous killer in court. He said: “At the first hearing he came up out of the dock. I looked him in the eyes through the glass and he just started laughing. It was just total disrespect. He clearly didn’t care.
“At the next hearing he was on the videolink from jail fist-bumping all the screws, laughing and joking. He pointed at the camera and started writing a message on the table with his finger, but because the screen was so far away I couldn’t see what he was writing. It was horrible. I felt pure hate and anger seeing that.”
Leo was living in foster care when he was murdered having been taken in by a family after Chris, who has long been separated from Leo’s mum Rachel Fisher, admits he found himself in trouble with the law and went to jail. He says his parents died when he was young and he was “brought up on the street”.
But he said: “Leo was nothing like me. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body. He never once got into trouble or had an argument with anyone. He was such a kind little boy. He was just so gentle and timid. He was a shy kid.
“He was the opposite of me. I tried to get him boxing lessons, but he wasn’t like that, he didn’t have that in him. All he wanted to do was look through his microscope at fossils, crystals and gems. He loved his rocks and gems. He loved nature, anything wild like that, he loved it. He also loved playing on his PS5. He was such a good kid – he was always happy and he just loved everyone.”
Hundreds of people turned out at Leo’s funeral in March last year to say their final farewells. He was carried into the church in a bright blue painted coffin with artwork, including games consoles, decorating the sides. Leo’s school, Christ Church C of E Secondary Academy in Yardley, closed for the day to allow the school community to pay their respects to the “lovely and bright” pupil.
And thousands of fans of Birmingham City FC, who Leo supported and had been a mascot for, paid tribute to him during the 12th minute of a match. Chris, who admits the tributes were “heartbreaking” and “overwhelming”, says he was active in Leo’s life and had regular contact with him, including during days out bowling and doing other activities.
But he admits he still feels guilt that Leo was in foster care, meaning he wasn’t able to walk him home from school. He said: I wish I’d never f***** up because if I hadn’t I would have been there to walk him home from school and it would never have happened. I would have been there. The guilt I feel now that I wasn’t there to be able to protect him is horrible. If I’d been there, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Fighting back tears, Chris added: “That’s the hardest thing for me. I’ll never get over it knowing that he was walking home from school alone. He must have been so scared. I just can’t get it out of my head how scared he must have been. I just can’t get it out of my head.”
Recalling the heartbreaking moment he found out Leo was dead, Chris said: “I got a call from the police telling me I needed to come to hospital. I already knew he was dead because of the way they worded it. I knew he was gone.
“When I got to the hospital I wasn’t allowed to touch him or see him close-up. I was only allowed to look at him through a glass screen because of the forensic examination. I had to tell my daughter Leo would never be coming home from school. It was horrible. It was brutal.
“I was heartbroken, destroyed. I still can’t understand it – it doesn’t make sense, none of it. Leo died just over a year ago, but it feels like it was yesterday. I still don’t sleep.” Paying a tearful tribute to his son, he added: “He was gentle, kind and caring. He made friends everywhere he went. I’m proud to call him my son.”
Mr Justice Choudhury KC today accepted a bid to lift an anonymity order protecting the identity of Leo’s killer due to his age, but his name wouldn’t be made public for 24 hours after sentencing. Chris said: “I wanted him to be named. I don’t want him running around the jail making out like he’s done this and that like a gangster. He’s in for murdering a little innocent boy and I want people to know that.”
Leo had been walking home from Christ Church of England Secondary Academy School at around 3pm, wearing his school uniform with his jacket hood up against the cold. His murder was the boy’s fourth attack in the same park over just three days.
Earlier the same day, the killer had tried to attack a woman who was on her own in the same park, but had been interrupted – forcing him to flee. The teenager had also beaten an elderly woman with her own walking stick and pushed her into the River Cole on January 19.
The following day, on January 20, he launched another attack on a lone woman who had been walking in the park, causing serious injuries, before running away. He had reportedly spent months terrorising his neighbourhood and had also vandalised property and been brought home by the police in the months before the park rampage.
Despite his notoriety locally, he tried to present himself as a hero to police at the scene, claiming that he had found Leo and helpfully called out for help. He was caught on camera telling officers: “I seen him and I seen this woman – she was walking down so I told her to call you guys. Then I went to get some help from different people, and that’s all I know about it.”
Lying about Leo, he said: “He was laid there like that when I got here, and that’s all I know.” After being asked if he had seen anyone near Leo, the youth added: “I’ve seen him and then as I was looking… I didn’t touch him because that could put me in the case.”
Detectives believe the killer loitered at the scene of the attack in Trittiford Mill Park because he liked to watch the “chaos of his actions unfold”. He was finally arrested hours after Leo’s murder when he laughed at police and taunted them that they wouldn’t find anything on his clothes or in his house.
However, officers were successfully able to link him to it after discovering clothing stained with Leo’s blood at his home and recovering the murder weapon, which had been thrown into the river. It had both his DNA and Leo’s DNA on it.
Chris is grateful for the police’s work, but believes they should have done more to catch the youth before his offending escalated to murder. He said: “He beat up an elderly woman with her own walking stick in the days before and still didn’t get nicked.
“He should have been dealt with by the police before he got to Leo. It could have been prevented. I’ve spoken to other parents and been told he had been outside the school bullying kids for months before this.”
The attacker finally pleaded guilty to Leo’s murder at Birmingham Crown Court last month. He also admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to previous attacks on three elderly victims. And he admitted to 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 will lie on file.
Chris, who previously joined the army, dropped out of a college course for his digger and dumper license after Leo’s murder and admits he turned to drink in a bid to block out the trauma. He is being supported by his partner of five years Emily Sheridan, as well as anti-knife crime campaigners.
They include Caroline Willgoose, whose 15-year-old son Harvey was stabbed to death at school in Sheffield just days after Leo, and Courtney Barrett, who launched the Binning Knives Saves Lives organisation. Chris, who lives in Coventry, credits all three, as well as other wellwishers he doesn’t even know, with helping him avoid a breakdown.
He today read a moving personal impact statement to his son’s killer inside the courtroom, during which he told him he is living a life sentence without his “special little boy”. He also told how “there will always be a hole in my life where Leo should be.” And he added: “It breaks my heart that I will not be able to see my boy grow up and the man that he would become.”
Sitting in his flat, where he is surrounded by touching memories of Leo, including photos, a number plate with his name on and a blanket from Leo’s bed, Chris said he is now determined to use his harrowing experience to help others. He said: “I’ve been stuck in limbo since I got that phone call. I now want to spread awareness about knife crime and how it’s affecting kids. It’s not on.
“We’ve got £10,000 worth of bleed kits for schools around Coventry and we want to get boxes with them fitted on walls in the city. I can’t say that Leo’s life would have been saved had there been a bleed kit nearby, but there’s a good chance he would still be with us today. I don’t want anyone else to go through the nightmare that we have.”
