Claudiu-Carol Kondor: Man accused of Amazon driver's murder owed £4,000 and smoked joints like cigs'

Mark Ross, 32, from Leeds, is charged with the murder of driver Claudiu-Carol Kondor, 42, in an incident in Wortley, Leeds, on August 20 last year.

Leeds Crown Court heard on March 11 how Ross allegedly drove away in the van with Mr Kondor hanging on to the door, reaching speeds of up to 60mph.

Witnesses heard Mr Kondor shout for help before the Ford Transit Cargo van collided with one vehicle and then a second which caused him fatal injuries.

Mr Kondor was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ross is standing trial accused of murdering Mr Kondor, and denies he knew that Mr Kondor had been hanging onto the vehicle.

Leeds Crown Court has previously heard that Ross - who has admitted manslaughter - drove at speeds reaching 60mph with Mr Kondor holding on.

Prosecutor John Harrison KC told the court that the van also hit a parked car. It was a second crash with a parked blue car that caused "fatal head and chest injuries to Mr Kondor.”

On Monday (March 10), Ross gave evidence from the witness box and said he was in over £4,000 of debt at the time of Mr Kondor's death and smoked cannabis "every day".

He said: "I was using cannabis on a daily basis, smoking from 6am to 11 or 12pm. I smoked joints like they were cigs."

Ross' barrister Simon Keeley KC asked him if he had had money issues, to which he replied: "Yeah. On a day-to-day basis, not having money, not being able to eat, so I felt I had to go out and pinch something, and do something to get money so I could live and feed myself, clothe myself.

"I've never got any help from my parents."

Ross said he had "built up debts with people" including drug dealers who would sell him cannabis.

He said: "Just before I came to prison I had a debt of over £4,000 that I had to pay off, but while I was paying bits here and there the debt was just increasing because it was taking too long to pay it back.

Ross told jurors his use of cannabis affected his health and affected him mentally.

He added: "I wasn't proud of what I became and how I managed to get it, it was just what I needed."

He told the court that on the day of Mr Kondor's death, he was on his way to meet his dealer to buy cannabis when he saw the van in Alliance Street. Ross said "no one was in the vehicle" and he "didn't see anyone near it".

Mr Keeley asked him: "At what point did you realise there was no one in it?" He replied: "When I got to the driver's side... I could see there were boxes in the passenger seat.

“I saw there was no one in the van when I was at the side of it so I basically jumped in it and drove off at speed."

When asked why he took the van, Ross said: "For my weed habit and to steal the van."

He said his plan was "to get it out of the area for a first, because I knew it wouldn't be long for the police to search the area.

"I went to park it up to see if there was a tracker on... I'd not long smoked cannabis and my adrenaline was pumping and I was nervous I'd stole the van and wanted to park it up. I didn't want to be caught bang to rights with it."

Ross, from Armley, Leeds, said his driving was "well in excess of the speed limit" and said he did not see, nor was he aware, that someone was hanging onto the passenger door.

He said he collided first with a black Mini car after spotting that he was going to have a head-on collision with it, and he "swung" the vehicle around.

Mr Kondor is originally from Romania but lived in Sheffield.

The trial continues.