Mark Ross, a „career criminal,” has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years for the murder of an Amazon courier, Romanian Claudiu-Carol Kondor (photo), who tried to prevent him from stealing his van.
On August 20, 2024, the 42-year-old Kondor was dragged through the streets of Leeds for about a kilometer after he clung to the car in a desperate attempt to stop the theft, writes The Guardian.
The thief, Mark Ross, got into the van while Kondor was delivering Amazon packages in the Armley area of Leeds.
The Leeds Court of Justice stated that Ross drove at speeds of up to 100 km/h on residential streets, driving erratically and hitting two parked cars in an attempt to "escape" from Kondor, who was holding onto the passenger door.
The Romanian driver died from severe head and chest injuries after Ross intentionally crashed into a parked Mini to throw him out of the vehicle.
Kondor suffered 60 injuries to his skull, brain, and limbs, and his aorta, the body's largest artery, was severed in Ross's attempt to escape, Judge James Goss said.
"Your actions terrified him in his final moments, knowing he had to hold onto the speeding van or fall onto the road. You ignored his pleas to stop and killed him in cold blood, depriving him not only of life but also leaving behind a grieving fiancée... No court can undo the pain you have caused," the judge told Ross at the trial.
Fiancée of the romanian man forced to return to Romania
Kondor's fiancée, Mariana Gheorghe, said she was "forced to return to Romania with a broken heart" after her partner's death, describing him as "a man of integrity and hard work."
She recounted that Claudiu-Carol Kondor had a difficult childhood in Romania and moved to Italy at the age of 19, working in various fields and volunteering to help earthquake victims in 2009.
Kondor came to England in 2019, where he worked as a delivery driver and security agent, fulfilling his dream of owning his own van in July 2024 – just a few weeks before he was killed.
"He enjoyed interacting with people, delivering packages on time and correctly. Every day, at the end of his shift, he was satisfied that he had done his job well. I don't know how I will live without him, everything seems extremely difficult to me. I am still shocked and confused by what happened," she said.
Ross claimed he did not know the victim was hanging onto the van and pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but denied the murder charge. However, on Wednesday, he was found guilty of intentional murder.
"Career criminal" with a "difficult and turbulent" childhood
The judge mentioned that Ross had a "difficult and turbulent" childhood and had committed crimes since the age of 13, mainly for theft and burglaries. Additionally, he was separately sentenced to another six months in prison for a theft committed last April on the M1 motorway.
The sentence was justified by the fact that "the killing was done for personal gain." "It was an offense of exceptional seriousness. Kondor was a conscientious man, who did his job responsibly, providing an important public service," the judge concluded.