Can a shared delusion drive two people to commit acts of extreme, sudden violence?

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2008, Swedish twins Ursula and Sabina Eriksson caused chaos on a British motorway, running into traffic in a bizarre display. While both survived, Sabina was released from custody only to kill a man who offered her shelter. The case remains a chilling study of shared psychosis and systemic failure.

The Eriksson twins, born in 1967, had no history of mental illness until May 2008, when they suddenly left Ireland for England. After being ejected from a coach at Keele services for erratic behavior, they walked onto the M6 motorway. In a harrowing scene captured by a television crew, both women threw themselves into oncoming traffic. Despite being struck by vehicles, they survived, with Sabina displaying extreme agitation and paranoia before being sedated and arrested.

Following a brief court appearance where she was sentenced to time served for motorway trespass and assaulting an officer, Sabina was released. She was taken in by Glenn Hollinshead, a kind-hearted paramedic who sought to help her. The next day, Sabina stabbed Hollinshead to death. She then fled, hitting herself with a hammer and striking a bystander before jumping from a 12-metre bridge. She survived the fall and was later charged with murder.

At her trial, Sabina pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. Experts pointed to folie à deux, a rare disorder where delusional beliefs are transmitted between individuals. The defense argued Sabina was the secondary sufferer, influenced by her twin. While the court accepted this diagnosis, the case sparked intense criticism of the justice system. Critics, including the victim's brother, argued that Sabina’s clear mental distress on the motorway should have triggered a psychiatric assessment, which might have prevented the tragedy.

The case has since become a subject of intense public fascination, featured in documentaries and numerous true crime podcasts. It highlights the terrifying, unpredictable nature of acute polymorphic delusional disorder and the limitations of legal systems when faced with complex psychiatric conditions. Sabina served five years in prison before her release in 2011, leaving behind a legacy of unanswered questions about how such a catastrophic sequence of events could unfold.

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