Car salesman, 24, who killed his colleague when he lost control of BMW and smashed into 26-tonne lorry at nearly 100mph walks free from court

Daily Mail​

07-07-2025

A car sales executive who killed his colleague when he lost control of his BMW at nearly 100mph walked free with a supervision order as the victim's mother wept in court.
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 October 23, 2022.
The pair were colleagues at the second hand car dealership Big Motoring World.
A colleague was FaceTiming them at the moment of impact and heard Stephanie scream before connection was lost.
Zailac suffers 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. Judge Sarah Munro, KC, said 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.
'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.'
Stephanie's mother Nicholle Diroyan sobbed as she read her victim impact statement in court.
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.'
Stephanie's aunt Michelle Diroyan said they were 'closer than any family could be' and remembered making fancy dress outfits for Stephanie to wear to school including an Amy Winehouse outfit where she won first prize.
Her grandmother Sheila Ballis said Stephanie and her mother had lived with her until Stephanie was 14.
'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.'
Judge Munro 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 said: 'On October, 23, 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.'
The judge told Stephanie's family that Zailac and his family had expressed 'very considerable remorse and guilt' in the reports she had read.
Referring to Zailac and his family's distress, she said: 'This isn't put on, you might think it is, but it's not.'
Earlier Dr Jaleel Mohammed told the court Zailac had suffered a brain injury.
He said: 'The evidence from the medical records showed that he had suffered a brain injury.
'He subsequently had amnesia after the accident itself.
'My opinion on the matter is that the amnesia was caused by the traumatic brain injury, and not a psychiatric condition.
'The amnesia is not a psychiatric condition but it's a neurological condition.'
Mr Hookway said Zailac drove a BMW, an M340D, at approximately 98mph on Mollison Avenue, an A-road in north London that has a speed limit of 40mph.
'And it is alleged that due to the speed and manner of his driving he lost control of that vehicle, causing it to crash into an oncoming lorry that was driving in the opposite direction.
'Stephanie Nye-Diyoran at the time was in the front passenger seat.
'She was caused death by serious injury due to the collision between the vehicle and the lorry, and despite the attention and efforts of emergency services, she was tragically pronounced dead the scene.'
Mr Hookway said lorry driver Andre Allen had one passenger with him.
'Their route started at a depot in Enfield, the destination was Covent Garden.
'The route took them southbound along Mollison Avenue. The road has a single carriageway in each direction and a speed limit of 40mph.
'The incident itself happened on a corner of that road.
'The lorry driver, he described it as a blind corner where you are unable to see what is coming in the other direction due to an incline in the road and change in direction.
'He also remembered that the conditions that night were dark and wet.
'As he came around the corner in the lorry, he saw a grey car coming in the other direction - it was coming at some speed and initially it was in the correct lane for oncoming traffic, but as it came around the corner Mr Allen watched it slide, as he described it, into his lane.
'It continued to slide until it collided with the front of his lorry, the point of collision being towards the driver's side of the HGV.
'Mr Allen thought he was driving at around 20-25mph, so well within the speed limit, and he had braked his lorry when he first saw this car.
'Based on data from the airbag module in the defendant's BMW, the collision happened at 19.54pm, so six minutes to eight in the evening.'
The prosecutor said using a combination of dash-cam footage, data recorded by the airbag module and witness evidence, a collision investigator had put together a reconstruction.
The BMW 'had partly and then wholly crossed the white lines in the middle of the road,' said Mr Hookway.
Jurors heard Zailac was driving at '98mph before the collision, representing something well over double the applicable speed limit for that road.'
Following the crash Ms Nye-Diroyan was initially able to respond to the lorry driver by 'nodding her head', Mr Hookway said.
But her condition deteriorated and despite the best efforts of doctors at the scene, resuscitation efforts failed she was pronounced dead at 21.46pm.
Zailac was taken to the emergency department at Royal London Hospital.
Dr Gourinath Tokachichu 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.'
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.