KNIVES EPIDEMIC: SCHOOLBOY SINGLED OUT AS EASY TARGET

Father still haunted by stab murder of Leo, 12

- BY PATRICK HILL

LEO Ross's father says he is still tormented by his son's final moments as the 12-year-old was stabbed to death as he walked home from school.

Christopher Ross said: “Leo was so gentle and little, he must have been so scared. The heartbreak will never go away. There are no celebrations in my home, no birthdays, no Christmas, just memories.”

Chris, 39, spoke out as Leo's 15-year-old killer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a mandatory life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of just 13 years for the murder in January last year.

The twisted teen could be released aged 27, yet he even attempted to goad his victim's family in court.

Chris said: “He should be in jail for life. He's shown no remorse but could be out in his 20s.”

Telling how he came face-to-face with Leo's killer in court, he said: “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. It was horrible. I felt pure hate and anger seeing that.”

The killer, surrounded by four security guards in the dock yesterday, was not known to Leo and was captured in chilling footage cycling around as the model pupil made his way home from school in Yardley Wood, Birmingham, on January 21 last year.

He stabbed Leo in the stomach with a kitchen knife in what police called an unprovoked attack.