Heroic delivery driver Claudiu Carol-Kondor bravely clung on to the side of his Amazon van in a desperate bid to stop its contents from being stolen by Mark Ross in Armley, Leeds
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How West Yorkshire Police caught Cladiu Carol-Kondor’s killer
A man who murdered an Amazon delivery driver after stealing his van and speeding off as the victim clung onto the passenger door has been jailed for life.
Claudiu Carol-Kondor was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering catastrophic head and chest injuries when Mark Ross drove the van into a parked car. Mr Kondor had been delivering a package to an address in the Armley area of Leeds at around 7pm on August 20 last year when Ross jumped into the driver’s seat of his van.
After realising what was happening, Kondor tried to intervene and stop the man driving away with his deliveries. Mr Kondor clung to the open door with his feet scraping along the road as Ross swerved the van around at speed. Shocked eyewitnesses saw him shouting for help, clearly in fear for his life. The van initially clipped a parked car before colliding heavily with another parked car on August 20, last year. Ross sped away and arranged for the van to be taken to a back street to be stripped of its parcels. The vehicle was recovered by officers after its on-board tracker was followed.
Today, the Honourable Mr Justice Goss sentenced Ross to life in prison and told him he will serve a minimum term of 30 years.
During sentencing, the judge told Ross: “You seized the opportunity to steal the van and sell it. Got into the driver’s side and drove off. He tried to stop you by trying to get into the passenger door, but could not get into it and you drove away.
“Another driver at the junction who almost collided with the van couldn’t believe what she saw. He was shouting ‘Help.’ Further down the road, another witness similarly shocked heard him shout ‘stop.’ You were trying to shake him off, increasing your speed along the road, ignoring his pleas and accelerated to 40 then 50mph in order to get him off the van and drive away. The speed limit in this built up area is 20mph.
“In Heights Drive there were two sets of driving on the nearside of the road and you intentionally drove close to the last set and Mr Kondor or the door struck the wing mirror and wasn’t dislodged so 140m along the road, by which time you were travelling at a speed of 61mph, you deliberately steered it to the last set of parked cars and the door struck a Mini Cooper.
“Mr Kondor was crushed, thrown off the van and tumbled down the road, coming to rest on the pavement. He died on the pavement, despite attempts of resuscitation. There were 60 areas of injury to his head, brain and limbs. There was cutting to the aorta. He died from the head injuries within seconds of being crushed.”
Ross, 32, had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. During his trial, he claimed he had been unaware of Mr Kondor hanging onto the open passenger door and said he had crashed into the parked car after losing control on speed bumps. But the prosecution case was that Ross had collided with the car deliberately to knock him off and escape regardless of the serious harm this would cause him.
During today sentencing hearing, his partner Marianna Gheorghe thanked members of the public who stayed with Claudiu as he lost his life. She said: “The thought he was not alone and someone tried to do something for him clams me down. Life rarely follows the straight path we imagine. The death of my fiance is different any losses in my life.
“The meaning of my life has changed. My plans, desires, my family’s lives have changed, all disappearing completely. My self-confidence has disappeared, the desire for me to wake up and do something constructive has disappeared, my trust in people has disappeared, even in my own house I’m scared to sleep with the light off.
“My wounded heart is still waiting for him to walk in the house and shout ‘honey I’m home.’ I’m still shocked and confused and miss him very much…For three weeks I couldn’t go out on the streets alone because I was alone. I’d return crying because I saw happy people in the streets and wondered what my normality was.”
Following the guilty verdict on Wednesday, senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle said: “Claudiu was a decent hard-working man and it’s clear he was determined not to let Ross take his livelihood.
“For half a mile he bravely clung to the open door as Ross swerved the van around at speed before deliberately crashing leaving him fatally injured. Claudiu came to the UK from Romania to make a better life for himself. He was described by his work colleagues as being not just a dedicated and valued member of their team but a friend and a confidant. He was also a familiar friendly face to the many people he delivered to.
“His partner, who had also come to the UK for work, has since returned to Romania now seeing no future here. She and Claudiu’s family have been left utterly devastated by his death. It is truly heart-breaking that the life of an honest hard-working man has been snatched away by the cruel and callous actions of Mark Ross.”
