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A “career criminal” has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years for murdering a “hard-working” Amazon delivery driver who tried to stop him stealing his van.
Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, was dragged along the streets for about half a mile at high speeds as he clung to his vehicle to try to stop the theft on 20 August last year.
The thief, Mark Ross, had climbed into the van while Kondor was delivering Amazon parcels in the Armley area of Leeds.
Leeds crown court heard that Ross hit speeds of 60mph on residential streets and swerved erratically from side to side before hitting two parked cars, in an effort to “get rid” of Kondor, who hung from the open passenger door.
The Romanian delivery driver died from head and chest injuries after Ross deliberately crashed into a stationary Mini to knock him from the vehicle.
The judge, Mr Justice James Goss, said Kondor had suffered 60 areas of injury to his skull, brain and limbs and that his aorta, the largest artery in the body, had been slashed in Ross’s getaway attempt.
Sentencing Ross to life in jail with a minimum term of 30 years, he said: “Your actions must have terrified him in the last moments of his life, knowing he had to hold onto the speeding van or fall into the road.
“You ignored his pleas to stop and callously murdered him, not only depriving him of his life but also taking a much-loved and hard-working partner ... No court can undo the hurt you have caused.”
Kondor’s fiancee, Mariana Gheorghe, said in a victim impact statement that said she had been “forced to return to Romania with a broken heart” after his death, and described 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.
Gheorghe said 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 – just weeks before he was murdered.
“He enjoyed meeting people, delivering parcels on time and correctly,” she said. “When he finished work each day he was happy to say he had done his best.”
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She 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, who claimed he was unaware of Kondor hanging on to the van, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. He was found guilty of the more serious charge on Wednesday.
The judge said Ross had a “difficult and troubled childhood” and a history of offending from the age of 13, predominantly for theft and burglary. He was given a concurrent six-month jail term on Friday for an unrelated theft from a lorry on the M1 in April last year.
Goss, sentencing, said the murder was carried out “for gain”. He added: “It was an offence of particularly high seriousness. He was performing a service to the public as a conscientious delivery driver.”
