A thief who murdered an Amazon delivery driver has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years.
Mark Ross, 32, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty of killing Claudiu Carol Kondor.
The 42-year-old victim had clung onto his van for half a mile as Ross drove at speeds of up to 60mph. Ross had stolen the vehicle while Kondor was delivering parcels in Leeds last August.
The court heard how Ross deliberately crashed into two parked cars in an attempt to dislodge Kondor from the vehicle. Kondor died from head and chest injuries sustained in the second collision.
Mark Ross was sentenced for the murder of Claudiu Carol Kondor
West Yorkshire Police
Ross had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder, claiming he was unaware Kondor was hanging onto the van. A jury found him guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to one.
Witnesses described seeing Kondor’s legs dragging on the ground as he clung to the open door of his silver Transit van. One woman reported hearing him shouting “Help” during the terrifying ordeal.
Prosecutor John Harrison KC told the court: “After speeding and swerving failed to get rid of Kondor, the defendant deliberately drove into collision with two parked cars.”
Ross first turned the steering wheel towards a black car parked at the roadside.When that failed to knock Kondor free, he “tried again” by crashing into a blue car.
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Floral tributes left the scene he scene in Wortley, Leeds, following the death of parcel delivery driver Claudiu-Carol Kondor
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This second collision proved fatal for Kondor, who lived in Sheffield. After the crash, Ross met up with other people and the contents of the van were removed.
The theft occurred on 20 August last year in the Armley area of Leeds. Kondor’s fiancée Mariana Gheorghe described him as a “man of integrity and hard work” in a victim impact statement read to the court.
She revealed she had been “forced to return to Romania with a broken heart” following his death.
Kondor had a difficult upbringing in Romania before moving to Italy aged 19. He worked various jobs and volunteered to help earthquake victims in 2009.
Claudiu Carol Kondor was pronounced dead at the scene
West Yorkshire Police
Floral tributes left the scene he scene in Heights Drive
PA
In 2019, he came to England, working as a delivery driver and security guard. He had realised his dream of owning his own van just three weeks before he was killed.
“Of all his jobs he liked delivering the most. He enjoyed meeting people, delivering parcels on time and correctly,” Gheorghe told the court. When he finished work each day he was happy to say he had done his best.”
Gheorghe added: “I don’t know how I will live without him, everything seems so difficult to me. I’m still shocked and confused about everything that happened.”
Ross, described in court as a “career criminal”, admitted he had previously been involved in stealing vans. However, he told the jury: “I would have stopped the van and run off if I had known he was there.”
He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court
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Sentencing Ross, Justice Goss said: “Claudiu Carol Kondor must have been terrified in the last 45 seconds of his life as you ignored his pleas to stop and drove faster, dragging him along the road, causing him mental and physical suffering.”
Ross, of Conference Road, Armley, was also given a concurrent six-month sentence for a separate offence of stealing cashmere jumpers from a lorry.