Ursula and Sabina Eriksson

Who is Ursula and Sabina Eriksson?

Ursula and Sabina Eriksson are Swedish twin sisters who came to national attention in the United Kingdom in May of 2008 after an apparent episode of folie à deux, 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 murder 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. Shortly after police arrived the women again ran on to the motorway and were struck by oncoming vehicles, with Ursula suffering serious leg injuries and Sabina a 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 apparently unprovoked attack. She was pursued by police and arrested after jumping from a bridge onto a busy trunk road, and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. She was sentenced to five years imprisonment and released on parole in 2011.