Boy, 14, being quizzed about the murder of Leo Ross, 12, is arrested over assaults on three pensioners

A teenager being quizzed by police in connection with the murder of a 12-year-old schoolboy has been further arrested over assaults on three pensioners.

The 14-year-old was apprehended just hours after Leo Ross was found by a member of the public with a stab wound to the stomach on the banks of the River Cole in the affluent Hall Green area of Birmingham.

Emergency services were called at around 3pm on Tuesday and Leo was treated at the scene, but was pronounced dead around four hours later.

The teenage suspect is being held by police as they investigate Leo’s murder, but today they confirmed they are also looking into three assaults on pensioners in the Hall Green area in the days running up to the incident. 

West Midlands Police said the assaults occurred on January 19 and 20, as well as one on January 21 shortly before the youngster’s murder.

The victims of the assaults are aged in their 70s and 80s.

Birmingham LPA commander Chief Superintendent Richard North said: ‘I would ask the public and the media not to speculate on the motive of this incident, the investigation is in the early stages and we have someone in custody.

‘I would urge anyone who saw what happened, or who has CCTV, mobile phone or dashcam footage from the area at the time to get in touch with us as soon as possible to help us build as clear a picture as possible.

‘We continue to work day in day out, with parents, schools, carers and other partners to educate young people on knife crime and its devastating consequences.

‘This work must and will continue. Today, our focus is on the family of the young boy who has lost his life in such a tragic way, and ensuring we get justice for him and his family.’

Today, Leo’s devastated classmates paid tribute to the youngster and described him as ‘helpful and welcoming’, while his heartbroken family said he was ‘funny, sweet and had not one aggressive bone in his body’.

It is thought Leo was targeted on the way home from school, just a ten-minute journey. 

One local woman told BBC Midlands Today described the youngster as a ‘lovely, caring, innocent little boy’, and added: ‘He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

On Wednesday, heads at Christ Church Secondary Academy, where Leo was a pupil, told parents that the alleged assailant had not been a pupil at the school.

Writing on its website, the school said: ‘Dear parents and carers, to update everyone now we have clearance from West Midlands Police, we can confirm that the suspect has never been a student at Christ Church C of E Secondary Academy.

‘We are in close contact with the bereaved family and with their permission we are opening a book of remembrance for students and the community to celebrate and to honour his life. We are also working with the family to plan a memorial service and memorial.

‘We have had a team of educational psychologists, counsellors and mentors in school to support the students and staff and will continue to offer support for as long as the children and staff need this.’

Tributes have flooded in, with friends leaving flowers at the scene near Scribers Lane. 

A family member of Leo, who asked not to be named, told the Mail: ‘He was a really good lad, a really nice lad, cheerful, not a bad bone in his body. He’s a golden kid.’ 

The member of the public who found Leo went banging on nearby doors, asking for the postcode to guide the emergency services to the scene.

Neighbours claimed that the previous assault on the elderly woman had been by someone she had not known, raising the prospect that both attacks might have been random.

Devastated schoolmates of Leo visited the police cordon next to Trittiford Mill Park, on Wednesday where they left flowers, candles and tributes.

Riley, 13, was in the same class as Leo. He said: ‘He was a really nice lad. Never gets in trouble, he always attended lessons, he’s always in school. He had some friends. He’s just a quiet kid.’

Riley’s mother Christine Barton, 42, said: ‘What happened to him is really, really sad. My kids were up most of the night crying over it.

‘They said what a sweet boy he was never ever in trouble. It’s definitely frightened my children.

‘If they feel uncomfortable going to and from school, I’m happy to drive them for a while and pick them up, because I’m worried about their safety at the moment.

‘It’s just so raw, it’s horrible. Something really, really needs to change – so many young lives have been taken. I just really feel for the little boy’s mother.’

Friends of Leo were said to have taken to social media to post ‘LLL’ which stands for ‘Long Live Leo’.

Christ Church School held a special assembly for pupils on Wednesday to give them space to grieve. 

Speaking after laying flowers, one emotional schoolsaid: ‘He was a really good kid. He was nice, always a good kid.

‘We had an assembly and we did a little worship about Leo and how he was kind and all that stuff. And we prayed for him.

‘He was a good kid, he’d always do his work. He always liked Science. And he was so nice to everyone and was always welcoming.

‘These boys, his close friends, told us what happened and he got stabbed, and I was really upset. Everyone was really upset and teachers I know were really upset too.’

A mother, whose child goes to the same school, added: ‘It’s just really shocking isn’t it, because you hear about these things and then when it happens on your own doorstep in your children’s school, it’s heartbreaking.’

One note left at the scene read: ‘Rest easy, you were taken too soon. Hope you’re having fun up there, you will be missed and we will get justice.’

Another wrote: ‘Rest in peace Leo Ross. You were loved by many people and your killer’s one sicko. I am thinking you are in a better place. I hope you are enjoying the afterlife.’

Another said: ‘RIP Leo Ross. We will miss you loads. Our lives won’t be the same without you. You will always be the kindest. Fly high Leo. You never deserved this, ever.

Chief Superintendent Richard North said a passer-by had attempted to administer aid amid the ‘chaotic and absolutely traumatic scene’, adding: ‘Sadly, despite the best efforts of police officers and paramedics who treated him at the scene, he lost his life later that day at about 7.30pm.’

Mr North told reporters: ‘This is an absolutely appalling incident. We have got specialist detectives working on the inquiry, but also supporting the loved ones of the 12-year-old that has very, very sadly and tragically lost his life.’

‘I would ask the public not to speculate about what happened – this is a very early stage of the inquiry. We are obviously dealing with it with a tremendous amount of priority.

He said that detectives were working around the clock, adding: ‘What I would urge is that anyone who was in the area of Scribers Lane at around that time – the incident happened at 3.40pm – get in touch with us and let us know where they were, if they saw anything unusual or suspicious.

‘We have set up a major incident public portal, which can be found on our website. People can find that and they can upload information directly on to that. It might be CCTV they have, phone footage or dashcam footage.’

Answering media questions near a passageway beneath a railway bridge leading to the country park where the boy was stabbed, Mr North described the 14-year-old in custody as ‘a key line of inquiry’ and his arrest as ‘significant’.

Questioned about the scale of knife crime in the Birmingham area, Mr North said anyone who is found carrying a knife over the age of criminal responsibility faced a ‘very high chance’ of being arrested and brought into custody.

He continued: ‘On a day like today it’s really difficult to talk about the progress that we have made about knife crime. Because it’s always going to look weak against the fact of what’s happened to this 12-year-old.

‘I don’t want to cause any additional stress to the people that knew him and loved him.’

Residents living near a riverside path leading into a wooded area of the park spoke of their shock at discovering the victim’s age.

One resident, who declined to give her name, said a member of the public had knocked on her door after 3pm on Tuesday asking for the area’s postcode to assist emergency services in reaching the scene.

She told reporters: ‘The first thing I knew was a gentleman came and asked for the postcode as somebody had been injured. He just came and knocked the door.

‘We had two police cars and then a helicopter. I found out somebody had been stabbed last night but it wasn’t till this morning that I realised the poor little soul had died.’

The area close to the scene of the killing has been blighted by antisocial behaviour in recent weeks – with a woman being pushed off her bike on Monday and reports of a separate indecent exposure incident.

‘We have many drug dealers hanging around where the police car is now, I try to keep out of the way,’ one neighbour said, gesturing in the direction of the nearby police cordon.

‘You see groups of them late at night, you can tell they are up to no good. It’s definitely got worse recently. It happens on at least a weekly basis.’

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘We were called to reports of a stabbing on Scribers Park Lane at 3.31pm yesterday.

‘One ambulance, a paramedic officer and a MERIT trauma doctor with a Critical Care Paramedic attended the scene. On arrival we discovered one patient, a boy.

‘Ambulance staff administered emergency treatment at the scene before transporting the boy to hospital.’

Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy in Yardley Wood shared a statement that said: ‘Our condolences and deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of one of our CCSA students.

‘This is a very sad time for our school community and we are focusing on supporting our students, staff and families with professional support.

‘As this is a live police investigation, we are unable to share any further details with you.’

Anyone who has any dashcam, doorbell or CCTV footage from the days leading up to 21 January is urged to get in touch with the police by calling 101 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.