8:36 am, July 8, 2025
A Big Motoring World sales executive who killed his colleague in a horror 100mph crash has walked free from court with a supervision order.
Car Dealer reported last year how Ivan Zailac, 24, ploughed into a 26-tonne truck at well over double the speed limit killing passenger Stephanie Nye-Diroyan, 21, in Enfield, north London, on 23 October 2022.
The pair had worked together at the used car supermarket’s Enfield site, where Nye-Diyoran was employed as a finance administrator.
Another colleague was FaceTiming them at the moment of impact and heard a scream before connection was lost, jurors heard.
Zailac was left suffering from amnesia and doesn’t remember the details of what happened after suffering a brain injury in the collision and subsequent psychiatric issues.
He sat at the back of court between his parents laying on his mother or father’s shoulder and had to be lifted up by them to stand when the judge came into court.
Zailac had been been ruled unfit to stand trial so the jury had to formally decide whether he did the act alleged, namely causing Ms Nye-Diroyan’s death by dangerous driving.
The jury then found he did carry out the act and Judge Sarah Munro, KC, has now ruled that Zailac will be supervised by a nominated social worker and the Hillingdon mental health team for two years.
‘This is the only way your mental health can be restored in order for a decision to be made as to whether there are further legal consequences for you to face,’ the judge said.
Prosecutor Frederick Hookway told the court that the Crown intends to put Zailac on trial if he recovers.
He said: ‘The objective of this order is for the improvement of the defendant’s mental health not only for his own sake but for the future of these proceedings.
‘The crown do intend to reinstitute these proceedings when and if appropriate.’
Mother’s ‘immeasurable pain’
Among the most heart-breaking moments of the proceedings came when Nye-Diyoran’s mother sobbed as she read her victim impact statement in court.
She told the hearing that she had been left feeling ‘incomplete’ following her daughter’s death and accused her killer of ‘showing no remorse’.
In a powerful statement, she said: ‘Stephanie was my only child. The pain of losing her is immeasurable and every day without her feels incomplete.
‘From a young age she was an incredibly happy chid always. Her inquisitive mind and thirst for learning shaped her joyful spirt.
‘Her laughter was contagious, she was well mannered, respectful and deeply empathetic. She had a natural ability to sense others feelings and comfort them with her kind and thoughtful nature and she is remembered fondly by everyone who knew her.
‘Stephanie and I shared a special unbreakable bond, she was my best friend and our connection was based on mutual care and support.
‘Our weekends were filled with quality time together after working long hours.
‘In her professional life Stephanie worked at Big Motoring World for over two years, she started as a reception manager and the week before she was killed was promoted to the finance team.
‘Her dedication, work ethic and commitment to her team was apparent to everyone around her.
‘Stephanie was the best of us and the love she gave will never be forgotten. Her legacy lives on in the hearts of all who knew her.
‘Over two years after losing her I am still fighting in court and I am still struggling to understand how the person responsible for her death has shown no remorse or taken any responsibility for his actions.
‘The lack of accountability from those who caused the death and the pain from the injustice makes the loss even more unbearable.
‘I have tried to do everything I can to pursue justice. No amount of time or legal proceedings will ever bring Stephanie back but I will keep fighting in the hope no other parent will ever have to face this dreadful loss without the accountability that is so desperately needed.’
The victim’s aunt Michelle Diroyan said they were ‘closer than any family could be’ and remembered making fancy dress outfits for her niece to wear to school, including an Amy Winehouse outfit where she won first prize.
Her grandmother Sheila Ballis, added: ‘We did so much together. She loved and enjoyed all life had to offer her and I was so proud to call her my granddaughter.
‘We used to call her the class clown as she was always the one to make us laugh.
‘All of this is because she was a passenger in a vehicle whose driver had no regard for the speed limit, taking our Stephanie’s life and destroying our lives too.’
‘Rarely do we deal with cases as tragic as this one’
In her summing up of the case, Judge Munro described Nye-Diroyan as a ‘wonderful young woman’ who had ‘lived life to the full’.
She added that the court’s power’s were limited due to Zailac’s mental state but said that both the killer and his family had shown ‘very considerable remorse and guilt’ in the reports she had read.
She said: ‘This court deals with many, many cases where lives have been taken at the hands of others but rarely do we deal with cases as tragic as this one.
‘Stephanie’s joyful life was snuffed out in an instant. Her mother will never recover from her grief and as a result of losing her beloved daughter her life will never be the same again.
‘What’s clear to me is that Stephanie lived life to the full. She had her whole life ahead of her and would undoubtedly have shone in her working and personal life.
‘She was a wonderful young woman who was taken away from everyone far too soon.
‘Perhaps the only comfort is from Stephanie making the most of every moment for her life, that she lived life to the full and had so many best nights of her life- but far too few.’
Addressing Zailac she added: ‘On 23 October 2022 you were driving a powerful three litre BMW lent to you by your father.
‘This court has noted the severe distress upon your father, no doubt living with the guilt that he lent you that car on that night.
‘You suffered physical injuries including a traumatic brain injury and psychological consequences and at this stage you were found unfit to be tried.
‘Therefore my powers are extremely limited and that is obviously extremely frustrating and distressing for Stephanie’s mother and family.’
Dr Gourinath Tokachichu, a consultant psychiatrist, earlier said Zailac ‘hasn’t got the emotional strength at this stage to engage in any kind of discussion about the court case’.
‘Because of this, his mental disorder is ongoing and his symptoms are ongoing, and sometimes getting worse’, he added.
Dr Tokachichu suggested Zailac is suffering from a treatable post-traumatic stress disorder condition.
Zailac, of Greycote Place, Ruislip, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and the jury found he carried out the act.
