A ‘career criminal’ thief has been jailed for life after killing an Amazon delivery driver who was trying to stop him from stealing his van.
Mark Ross, 32, has been jailed for at least 30 years at Leeds Crown Court for murdering Claudiu Carol-Kondor in August.
He climbed into the van while Mr Carol-Kondor was delivering a parcel and tried to drive away, but the owner clung onto the vehicle from the open passenger door.
Ross deliberately crashed into parked cars, swerved erratically and drove at almost 60mph on residential streets to knock Mr Carol-Kondor off the van.
The delivery driver, 42, died from head and chest injuries caused by the second crash into a parked vehicle.
Mr Carol-Kondor, who lived in Sheffield, was pronounced dead at the scene last August 20.
His employers, SP Transport Group, described him as ‘more than just a colleague – he was a friend, a confidant and a valued member of our team’.
Mr Carol-Kondor was delivering parcels for Amazon in the Armley area of Leeds using his own silver Transit van.
While he was away from his vehicle, Ross, who lived nearby, climbed into the driver’s seat and started to drive off.
CCTV footage showed Mr Carol-Kondor hanging onto the moving van through an open door as Ross drove away.
Witnesses described Mr Carol-Kondor’s legs dragging on the ground as he clung onto the inside of the open door, with one woman saying she heard him shouting for help.
Prosecutor John Harrison KC said: ‘After speeding and swerving failed to get rid of Mr Carol-Kondor, the defendant deliberately drove into collision with two parked cars.’
He said Ross ‘deliberately’ turned the steering wheel of the van towards a black car parked on the side of the road, and when that didn’t work he ‘tried again’.
‘The second collision was with a blue car which caused damage to the van, to the parked car and most significantly, caused fatal head and chest injuries to Mr Carol-Kondor,’ Mr Harrison said.
After driving away, Ross met up with other people and took the remaining parcels in the van.
Mr Harrison said Ross showed a ‘complete disregard and even contempt’ for his victim’s life.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
