The teenage killer of schoolboy Leo Ross has been publicly identified after a judge ruled that the public interest outweighed the need to protect his identity.

Kian Moulton,who was 14 at the time of the attack, stabbed 12-year-old Leo as he walked home from school in Birmingham in January 2025. The victim was stabbed once in the stomach in what police described as a completely random act of violence.

Now aged 15, Moulton was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 13 years before he can be considered for parole. He will remain on licence for the rest of his life.

Moulton had pleaded guilty to Leo’s murder last month. He also admitted a series of violent assaults on three elderly women in the days leading up to the killing.

Two of the women suffered serious, life-changing injuries. The court heard that the attacks showed a disturbing escalation in violence.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Choudhury KC told the court that although Moulton suffered from “formidable mental health problems”, he fully understood the consequences of his actions.

The judge said Leo had been targeted because he was smaller and more vulnerable. After stabbing the boy, Moulton cycled around Trittiford Mill Park telling members of the public that a child had been attacked.

He then returned to the scene, watched events unfold, and even spoke to attending police officers.

The judge said the teenager appeared to derive “pleasure from seeing the consequences” of the violence he had caused.

In addition to the murder conviction, Moulton pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the attacks on elderly women.

Detective Inspector Joe Davenport, who led the investigation, said there was no evidence that Leo and his killer knew each other.

“This was a totally random attack,” he said. “Leo was completely innocent. We may never understand why Moulton chose to attack him. What we do know is that he appeared to enjoy inflicting violence and then calling police to watch the chaos unfold.”

Why the killer can now be named

Reporting restrictions protecting Moulton’s identity were lifted following lengthy legal arguments at court.

Applications were made by Birmingham Live, the Daily Mail and the BBC, supported by other news organisations.

Mr Justice Choudhury said there was a strong public interest in naming Moulton, citing the escalation of his offending, the established pattern of violence against vulnerable victims, and growing public concern over knife crime.

The judge also noted the absence of remorse and a lack of meaningful rehabilitation since Moulton had been detained.

When questioned on the teenager’s progress, defence counsel Alistair Webster KC described it as “one step forwards and two steps back”.

During sentencing, Moulton showed little emotion. Observers noted that he had physically changed since his first court appearance a year earlier, sitting with his head bowed for most of the hearing.

That changed when Leo’s father, Christopher Ross, addressed him directly in a victim impact statement.
“Look up,” he told the defendant. “You killed my son.”

Amy Weston, a member of Leo’s foster family, described the attack as “wicked, senseless and unforgivable”. “Leo was a small, defenceless child,” she said. “As vulnerable as they come.”

Leo’s school also paid tribute. Tim Boyes, acting headteacher at Christ Church C of E Secondary Academy at the time, described Leo as “a quirky, lovable, bright, unusual little boy”.

“For a 12-year-old, he was very young,” he said. “He had a real simplicity and innocence. While many boys his age were obsessed with football, Leo was passionate about fossils.”

A short life, extinguished without reason, now stands as another grim chapter in the UK’s reckoning with youth violence and knife crime.