text: ursula and sabina eriksson ursula and sabina eriksson ( born 1967 ) are swedish twin sisters who came to national attention in the united kingdom in may 2008 after an apparent episode of folie à deux ( or " shared psychosis " ) , a rare psychiatric disorder in which delusional beliefs are transmitted from one individual to another , which resulted in a series of bizarre incidents on the m6 motorway and the subsequent killing of glenn hollinshead of fenton , staffordshire . there was no evidence that drugs or alcohol were involved in the incidents on the m6 or the death of hollinshead . the twins had been in ireland before travelling to england and boarding a coach for london at liverpool . their odd behaviour after exiting the coach at a service station on the m6 – including not allowing the bags they were clutching to be searched – caused the driver not to allow them back on the coach . the two were later seen on the central reservation of the m6 . when highways agency traffic officers arrived to assist the women , they ran across the busy motorway . ursula managed to dodge traffic - sabina was first struck by a seat leon . shortly after police arrived , the women again ran onto the motorway and were struck by oncoming vehicles , a volkswagen polo hitting sabina and a mercedes - benz lorry crushing ursula 's legs . sabina suffered a serious head injury that left her unconscious for several minutes . when sabina regained consciousness , she refused medical aid and attacked a police officer , at which point she was arrested . appearing calm , although a bit " odd " , as she was processed by police in stoke - on - trent , she was therefore released from custody . shortly afterward she was taken in by hollinshead , whom she later stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack . she was pursued running from the scene and arrested in hospital after jumping from a bridge onto a busy trunk road , later pleading guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility . she was sentenced to five years imprisonment and released on parole in 2011 . background ursula and sabina eriksson , identical twin sisters , grew up in sunne , värmland , in western sweden with their older brother . incidents in england the sisters left their home in county cork at 2am on may 16 , 2008 . coach journey in liverpool , at 8 : 30am on 17 may , saturday , the twins went into st anne street police station to report concerns over sabina 's children . at midday the pair boarded a national express coach to london . a police report stated that the twins suddenly disembarked from the coach at keele services , a motorway service station , as they were not feeling well . the driver of the coach , however , said he left them at keele services after becoming suspicious of their behaviour . he noticed the twins clinging tightly to their bags and did not let them re - board because they refused to let him search their bags for illegal items . the manager of the service station was informed and , also feeling suspicious of the pair , called the police . officers arrived to talk to them but left after deeming the women harmless . running onto the motorway the pair began to walk down the central reservation of the m6 motorway before attempting to cross the motorway , causing chaos to the traffic and picking up minor injuries in the attempt . their elder brother claimed in a swedish newspaper that his sisters were fleeing from maniacs who were chasing them . as seen on closed - circuit television cameras , the police arrived to investigate and paramedics were also at the scene to treat the women . along with the police came a small television crew who happened to be filming motorway cops with one of the officers . sabina later told an officer at the police station , " we say in sweden that an accident rarely comes alone . usually at least one more follows – maybe two . " standing on the north direction hard shoulder of the motorway , just north of three mile lane ( 52 ° 59 ' 38 . 84 " n , 2 ° 18 ' 15 . 44 " w ) , the police spoke to the twins when , without warning , ursula ran into the side of an oncoming mercedes - benz articulated lorry travelling at around 56 mph . sabina then followed her into the road and was hit by a volkswagen polo travelling at high speed ; both survived . ursula was immobilised as the lorry had crushed her legs . sabina spent fifteen minutes unconscious . the pair were treated by paramedics ; however both women resisted medical aid , fighting and screaming at the paramedics and police officers . sabina shouted " they 're going to steal your organs " and ursula told the policemen restraining her " i recognise you – i know you 're not real " . sabina got to her feet , whereupon a policewoman attempted to persuade her to stay on the ground and receive further medical attention . sabina instead struck the officer and crossed the central reservation again , running into traffic on the other side of the motorway . emergency workers and several members of the public caught up with her , restrained her and carried her to a waiting ambulance , at which point she was sedated . ursula was also taken to hospital where she stayed for weeks . sabina appeared less deranged and more calm and relaxed in police custody . the killing of glenn hollinshead on 19 may 2008 , sabina was released from court without a full psychiatric evaluation having pleaded guilty to trespass on the motorway and hitting a police officer . the court sentenced her to one day in custody which she had been deemed to have served having spent a full night in police custody . leaving court she began to wander the streets of stoke - on - trent , seemingly attempting to reach her sister in hospital , carrying her possessions in a clear plastic bag given to her by police . at 19 : 00 , two local men spotted sabina whilst walking a dog on christchurch street , fenton . one of the men was 54 - year - old glenn hollinshead – a self - employed welder , qualified paramedic , and former raf worker . the other man was his friend peter molloy . sabina appeared friendly and stroked the dog as the three people struck up a conversation . although friendly , sabina appeared to be behaving oddly and this odd behaviour worried molloy . sabina asked the two men for directions to any nearby bed and breakfasts or hotels . hollinshead took pity upon her and instead offered to take her back to his house at duke street , fenton . sabina accepted the offer and the three walked to the house , as sabina told the men how she was trying to locate her hospitalised sister . back at the house her odd behaviour continued ; most notably she offered the men cigarettes , only to quickly snatch them out of their mouths as the men smoked them , claiming the cigarettes to be poisoned . she was also carrying multiple mobile phones , as well as a laptop . she appeared to be paranoid and constantly looked out of the windows ; this behaviour caused molloy to assume that she had run away from an abusive partner . shortly before midnight molloy left the two , and sabina stayed the night in hollinshead 's home . the next day , 20 may , hollinshead called the local hospitals in order to locate sabina 's sister ursula . at 19 : 40 , hollinshead came outside of the house to ask a neighbour , frank booth , for tea bags . frank said he would get the tea bags once he had finished washing his vehicle , and hollinshead went back to his home . one minute after returning inside he staggered back outside to the neighbour and told him " she stabbed me " , before collapsing to the ground . sabina had stabbed him five times with a kitchen knife and hollinshead died from his injuries . sabina fled the premises and the neighbour dialled 999 . sabina 's flight from capture sabina ran out of the house with a hammer , periodically hitting herself over the head with it . a passing motorist , joshua , saw this extraordinary behaviour and decided to tackle her in an attempt to take control of the hammer . while wrestling with , sabina took a roof tile out of her pocket and struck him on the back of the head with it , stunning him temporarily . by this time paramedics had found her and gave chase . the pursuit was ended at heron cross when sabina jumped from a 12 metre ( 40 ft ) high bridge onto the a50 . having broken bones in the fall , she was taken to hospital . on 6 june 2008 she was arrested while recovering at university hospital of north staffordshire , and was later discharged from hospital on 11 september , at which point she was charged with murder . garry hollinshead , brother of the man killed by sabina , was critical of the justice system which he viewed as enabling sabina to kill his brother . " we don 't hold her responsible , the same as we wouldn 't blame a rabid dog for biting someone . she is ill and to a large degree , not responsible for her actions . but her mental disorder should have been recognized much earlier . " " i do question the criminal justice system for allowing somebody like this to be let out when she is capable of committing such a crime . her mental condition should have been properly assessed after what she did on the motorway and the experiences the police had . her mental disorder should have been picked up prior to her being let out in to the community ... [ glenn ] saw eriksson in distress and was just trying to help . he wasn 't slow in coming forward to help somebody in distress . it was in his nature . he was trying to help . he would help anybody . if he saw a fight in the street and a guy was losing he would help . " the trial sabina eriksson was charged with murder on 11 september 2008 , the same day she was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair . the trial was scheduled for february 2009 , but was adjourned after the court encountered difficulties in obtaining her medical records from sweden . the trial was then scheduled to start on 1 september 2009 . sabina eriksson pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility on 2 september 2009 . at no point during her interrogation or during the trial did she explain her actions , only replying " no comment " to extensive police questioning . both the prosecution and defence claimed that sabina was insane at the time of the killing , although she was sane at the time of her trial . the defence counsel in the trial claimed that eriksson was a " secondary " sufferer of folie à deux , influenced by the presence or perceived presence of her twin sister – the " primary " sufferer . the court also heard that she had suffered from a rare psychiatric disorder which made her hear voices , but could not interpret what they said , as well as an alternative theory that she had suffered from acute polymorphic delusional disorder . the plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was accepted at nottingham crown court on 2 september 2010 . sabina was sentenced to five years in prison . having already spent 439 days in custody before sentencing , this left her first eligible for release in 2011 . in prison she turned to christianity . justice saunders concluded that sabina had a " low " level of culpability for her actions . i understand that this sentence will seem entirely inadequate to the relatives of the deceased . however , i have sentenced on the basis that the reason for the killing was the mental illness and therefore the culpability of the defendant is low and therefore the sentence i have passed is designed to protect the public . it is not designed to reflect the grief the relatives have suffered or to measure the value of mr hollinshead 's life . no sentence that i could pass could do that . it is a sentence which i hope fairly measures a truly tragic event . justice saunders also said that : [ sabina was ] suffering from delusions which she believed to be true and they dictated her behaviour . it is not one of those cases where the defendant could have done something to avoid the onset . aftermath many questions were left unanswered , and detective superintendent dave garrett stated that " the reasons for the two events may never be truly known or understood but the taking of glenn 's life was a violent and senseless act " . some called for an investigation into the way the criminal justice system handled the matter , including peter molloy and mp for stoke south robert . media madness in the fast lane is the bbc documentary , first broadcast on bbc one on 10 august 2010 , which brought the story of sabina and ursula eriksson and the killing of glen hollinshead into the public consciousness . the footage on the m6 motorway of the two women jumping into the passing traffic had previously been broadcast on motorway cops , but this was the first time the rest of the story had been told . a madness shared by two 2012 , david cann isbn