Heartbroken fiancé of murdered Amazon driver tells Leeds court: 'I don’t know how I will live without him'

Claudiu-Carol Kondor died when Mark Ross purposely crashed the van as Mr Kondor held onto the vehicle, causing fatal injuries.

Ross, 32, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years today after being found guilty of murder following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

An emotional victim impact statement, written by Mr Kondor’s devastated partner, Mariana Gheorghe , was read out by prosecutor John Harrison KC.

She said they had carved out a life in the UK after Mr Kondor moved here in 2019. Originally from Romania, he had also lived in Italy.

She said the 42-year-old loved his job and “dreamed” of owning his own van, which he had bought just three weeks before his untimely death. She said they had a “beautiful relationship”.

She said: “He was a man of integrity and hard work. He enjoyed meeting people and delivering his parcels on time and correctly.

“The meaning of my life has changed.

“My wounded heart is still waiting for him to come in the house and say ‘honey, I’m home’, and me to answer ‘welcome home, my love’.

“I do not know how I will live without him. Everything seems so difficult to me. I’m still so shocked and confused to what happened.

“I knew at that moment that I will never be the same again. I have to get up, mobilise and move on.

“The loneliness is the reason I’m forced to return to Romania with a broken heart....it’s a new life I have to start from scratch.”

Mr Kondor had been delivering parcels in Armley on the evening of August 20 last year when Ross seized the opportunity to steal the Ford Transit from Alliance Street.

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He tried to open the passenger-side door to stop Ross driving away, then held on as Ross reached speeds up to 60mph in a 20mph area and swerved across the road to “get rid” of Mr Kondor, who was hanging onto the open door.

Ross, 32, then smashed into the side of the parked Mini on Heights Drive in Wortley, causing Mr Kondor fatal injuries.

Ross, of Conference Road, Armley, tried to convince the jury that speed bumps in the road had caused him to swerve, along with parcels that had fallen into the driver’s side footwell, rather than an attempt to remove Mr Kondor.

His claims were no believed by the jury who convicted by a majority verdict after deliberating for almost seven hours.