A thief who murdered a ‘hard working’ Amazon delivery driver who was trying to stop him stealing his van has been jailed for life.
Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, was hanging onto the van when ‘cruel’ and ‘callous’ Mark Ross, who had climbed in while a parcel was being delivered, deliberately crashed into a stationary Mini to knock him from the vehicle on August 20 last year.
Ross, 32, hit speeds of almost 60mph on residential streets and swerved erratically from side to side before hitting two parked cars, all in an effort to ‘get rid’ of Mr Kondor as he clung onto the van from the open passenger door, jurors heard.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Kondor died from head and chest injuries from the second crash.
On Friday, Ross was jailed at Leeds Crown Court for a minimum term of 30 years after being found by a jury guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to 1 earlier in the week.
Ross had pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denied murdering Mr Kondor, claiming he was unaware of him hanging onto the van and that speed bumps had caused him to lose control of the vehicle.
Determined not to let Ross steal his livelihood, Mr Kondor clung onto the vehicle for half-a-mile as the defendant hit speeds of up to 60mph and swerved from side to side before hitting two parked cars, all in an effort to knock him from the van.
Footage released by West Yorkshire Police today shows the moment Ross speeds through residential streets, with Mr Kondor clinging onto the passenger side door
Mark Ross (pictured), 32, has been found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of murdering Amazon delivery driver Claudiu-Carol Kondor
This is the moment Ross (pictured) calmly smokes as he is told he is being arrested on suspicion of murder
Amazon delivery driver Claudiu-Carol Kondor (pictured), 42, died after being flung from his van as he tried to stop it being stolen, a court heard
Haunting footage from the passenger side shows Mr Kondor clinging onto his van door while it is being stolen
Mr Kondor’s devastated fiancee said he had dreamed of owning his own van and bought it just three weeks before he was killed.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mariana Gheorghe, who said she had been ‘forced to return to Romania with a broken heart’ after his death, described Mr Kondor as a ‘man of integrity and hard work’.
She said he had a difficult upbringing in Romania and moved to Italy at the age of 19, doing various jobs and working as a volunteer to help earthquake victims in 2009.
Ms Gheorghe said Mr Kondor came to England in 2019 and worked as a delivery driver and security guard, realising his dream of owning his own van in July 2024.
Her statement said: ‘Of all his jobs he liked delivering the most. He enjoyed meeting people, delivering parcels on time and correctly.
‘When he finished work each day he was happy to say he had done his best.’
Ms Gheorghe went on to say: ‘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.
‘Both me and Claudiu were the kind of people who like to work, who built a life on dreams and honest work on their own.’
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