‘If love could’ve saved Leo he would’ve lived forever’, mother says
The court is now hearing victim impact statements. Leo’s birth mother, Rachel Fisher, said: “It should never have happened. Leo’s life should be just beginning.”
“I’ve lost everything I did have and would have with him, my firstborn child.”
“If love could’ve saved Leo he would’ve lived forever,” she added in an emotional statement to the court.
Key events
Teenage killer has suffered from ‘formidable mental health problems’
Defence barrister Alistair Webster said the 15-year-old killer of Leo Ross has “formidable mental health problems”.
Webster told the court that the teenager “shows recurrent episode of self-harm” and other “bizarre” behaviours.
In mitigation, the barrister said the defendant has been diagnosed with childhood conduct disorder and ADHD, and has previously had suicidal thoughts.
Webster added:
He has formidable mental health problems which present a picture which we can see is an alarming one.
In mitigation, the defendant’s counsel Alistair Webster said it was impossible to give a reason why the 15-year-old had decided to kill Leo and attack vulnerable elderly women.
He said:
The effect upon family, friends, is long-standing and significant and I want to make it clear nothing we will say should be seen as suggesting any of his victims were inviting what he did to them.
[Leo’s] mum and others want to know what lay behind the killing of Leo. It is, in reality, impossible to give a logical reason.
He added:
His behaviour has been an appalling shock to his own family and left them, in turn, in torment. Many lives have been seriously adversely affected and of course, Leo’s life was taken from him.
He will, reflecting the serious nature of the offending, have to be detained for life.
The teenager who killed 12-year-old schoolboy Leo Ross wrote a note which said he was going to hold his “hands up” about the stabbing, the court heard.
Prosecution KC Rachel Brand told the court that on 2 July last year, a member of staff at the secure children’s home the defendant was living at found a handwritten note in his room.
The barrister read aloud the note, which said:
I’m not going to lie, I will hold my hands up and say that I done it.
I stabbed him, lower right stomach.
‘I have lost everything’, Leo’s mother tells the court
We can bring you some more from the statement read out by Leo’s mother, Rachel Fisher, earlier.
She told the court:
Everyone has lost the most beautiful little soul, for what? We won’t ever know why such an innocent young boy, just walking home from school, minding his business, was robbed of his life for no reason whatsoever.
His funeral was beautiful. The streets were lined by people paying their respects but it should never have happened.
His life should have been just beginning but now he will never get to have his first job, his first car, get married or have his own children.
I will never see my lovely boy get married or have a family of his own. I have lost everything I did have and would have with him.
Instead of seeing my son living and enjoying his life, all I have is memories and photos and seeing him in my dreams. A part of me left that day and I will never get that part of me back.
Life since Leo was killed has been like a ‘living hell’, father says
The 15-year-old defendant is sitting in the dock, surrounded by four officers as he listens to the proceedings.
Speaking directly to the teenage defendant, Christopher Ross, Leo’s father, said: “Look up man … You killed my son.”
“Leo was loved by everyone. Everyone said how special he was. He was the kindest little boy you could ever hope to meet.”
“It breaks my heart that I wasn’t there to protect him.” Ross said living life without Leo has been like a “living hell”.
‘If love could’ve saved Leo he would’ve lived forever’, mother says
The court is now hearing victim impact statements. Leo’s birth mother, Rachel Fisher, said: “It should never have happened. Leo’s life should be just beginning.”
“I’ve lost everything I did have and would have with him, my firstborn child.”
“If love could’ve saved Leo he would’ve lived forever,” she added in an emotional statement to the court.
Leo’s killer attacked a 79-year-old woman, who “screamed” when he pushed her down, within half an hour before he stabbed the schoolboy, the court has heard.
Rachel Brand KC, prosecuting, said:
She was walking alone in the park on the afternoon of Tuesday 21 January last year at about three o’clock in the afternoon.
(The defendant) walked closely behind her, in fact she spoke to him – she asked him ‘do you want me to move aside?’.
(The boy) forcefully pushed her from behind. It caused her to fall forward onto her hands and knees.
Birmingham Crown Court heard that the only injuries to the elderly woman were soreness and muscle strain, but she was “shocked and alarmed” about what happened to her. Brand said the boy “turned and smiled” at the woman after the attack.
The proceedings have started again now the lunch break is over.
The prosecution then gave some pre-sentencing remarks and showed drone footage of the park in the immediate aftermath of the murder to the court, which is packed with family members, police, legal representatives and journalists. The court has adjourned for a lunch break now and will resume with the prosecution again at about 14:00.
Addressing the safety of the defendant in the secure institution he is being detained in, Justice Choudhury KC 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.
The judge said some of the other boys in the facility already know the defendant’s identity, which “has not resulted in any attacks” on him.
Judge agrees to delay in lifting reporting restrictions to allow appeal
Justice Choudhury KC has said the reporting restrictions around naming the defendant will stay in place for a further 24 hours to allow an appeal to be considered in the case.
The judge said factors of note favouring the lifting of restrictions included that the case is a matter of “substantial public interest” as knife crime, particularly among young people, is a matter of public concern.
The media submissions argued the previous attacks on vulnerable women carried out by the killer before he murdered Leo also made this a matter of public interest.
The judge noted that inclusion of the defendant’s name in reporting means the coverage is more likely to be read, as the media also highlighted in their submissions.
The judge said factors weighing against lifting the reporting restrictions included the welfare of the defendant, and the potential negative effects on his mental health and rehabilitation if named.
But after summarising the arguments that had been laid out to him, Justice Choudhury KC said the public interest around the case and commitment to open justice meant the defendant’s identity will be lifted, although not immediately.
The judge said the public would want to know “what could have led a child to commit such acts”.
Judge rules teenage killer can be named after press argued for lifting of anonymity
After considering applications from the press, Justice Choudhury KC has agreed with media submissions arguing for the teenage killer to be named. But the restriction has not been formally lifted so we cannot name the defendant yet. There is a possibility of an appeal from the defence.
At 12 years old, Leo is thought to have been the youngest victim of knife crime in the West Midlands.
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