A teenager who carried out a violent knife attack on 12-year-old Leo Ross has been publicly identified for the first time.
Kian Moulton was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 13 years for the murder on Tuesday. The incident occurred as Leo was walking home from school in Birmingham on January 21 last year, when he was fatally stabbed by Moulton in what was described as a random assault. Moulton, who was 14 at the time of the attack and is now 15, confessed to the killing during a court hearing the previous month.
Court proceedings revealed that Moulton displayed no remorse and refused to provide any explanation following his arrest, responding with “no comment” when questioned about Leo’s murder and prior assaults. Additionally, it was disclosed that Moulton had attempted to drown an elderly woman a few days before the fatal encounter and had harmed three other women in separate incidents leading up to the tragic event.
Leo succumbed to his injuries after being rushed to the hospital from a location in Shire Country Park, Hall Green, Birmingham. Moulton also admitted to causing grievous bodily harm with intent in two incidents on January 19 and 20, 2025, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on January 21, 2025, in connection with other assaults, as well as possessing a bladed article on the day of Leo’s murder.
Despite denying charges related to assaults on two other victims, the courtroom was filled with Leo’s relatives during the sentencing hearing. The judge, Mr. Justice Choudhury KC, ruled that Moulton should be named due to the significant public interest in the case, emphasizing the seriousness of the crimes, including murder, for which Moulton was being sentenced.
Addressing concerns over Moulton’s safety in the detention facility, Mr. Justice Choudhury highlighted past incidents of violence involving Moulton and assured that his identity being known to other inmates had not resulted in any harm to him.
Details emerged during the trial that Moulton had a troubled upbringing marked by exposure to domestic violence and parental separation from a young age. His behavioral issues, which started at a very young age, led to diagnoses of ADHD and ODD at seven years old. He exhibited disruptive behavior, anger towards authority figures, and instances of self-harm, including beating himself and collecting his blood.
Moulton had expressed to psychiatrists that his parents would be better off if he were no longer alive, and he had previously attempted suicide.
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