‘Career criminal’ jailed for life after dragging Amazon delivery driver to his death

A thief who murdered a hardworking” Amazon delivery driver who was trying to stop him stealing his van has been jailed for life.

- KATIE DICKINSON

Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, was delivering parcels in Leeds last year when “career criminal” Mark Ross, 32, climbed into his van and started to drive away, a court heard.

Determined not to let Ross steal the van, which was crucial to his livelihood, Mr Kondor clung on to the vehicle for half a mile while the defendant hit speeds of up to 60mph, swerved from side to side and hit two parked cars, all in an effort to knock him from the van.

Mr Kondor died of head and chest injuries sustained in the second crash, the court heard. Yesterday, Ross was jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court, with a minimum term of 30 years.

Mr Kondor’s devastated fiancee said he had dreamed of owning his own van and had bought it 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”.