Twins ran onto M6 before one stabbed innocent man to death
Lawyers at her trial claimed Sabina Eriksson was suffering from folie a deux, a form of 'shared psychosis'
15:11, 10 Aug 2025
A still from BBC programme Traffic Cops which captured the moment the Eriksson twins jumped into the path of oncoming traffic(Image: BBC)It is one of the strangest crimes - the twin sisters who ran at traffic on the M6 before one stabbed a Good Samaritan to death.
Now the horrific events of those few days in 2008 are set to be retold in a new documentary from the team behind Traffic Cops, Inside The Force and The Crash Investigators. The MEN's sister site, StokeOnTrentLive[1] took a look back at the case of the Swedish sisters who were suffering from a shared psychosis, when one went on to kill...
In 2008, identical twins Sabina and Ursula Eriksson ran into traffic on the M6[2] before one stabbed to death a Good Samaritan she had known for less than 24 hours.
But before that point the Eriksson twins were said to lead 'normal lives' as they grew up in their native Sweden from their birth in 1967. In 2000, Ursula would relocate to America, while Sabina decided to reside in County Cork, Ireland, with her partner and two children.
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Nobody could have predicted the events that would unfold when the pair came to England on holiday.
The siblings, both aged 40, had enjoyed some time in Merseyside before boarding a National Express coach from Liverpool to London on May 16, 2008.
Article continues belowAs the bus approached Keele Services on the M6 in North Staffordshire, the twins' behaviour became increasingly erratic. Despite the police being called to the scene, the sisters were allowed to go after being deemed harmless.
Shortly after their brush with the law, Sabina and Ursula began to walk down the central reservation of the M6 before attempting to cross to the other side as traffic raced past. As dramatic scenes began to unfold, a film crew just happened to be recording for the BBC[4] series Motorway Cops and managed to capture what happened next.
The shocking footage showed Sabina running out in front of an oncoming Volkswagen Polo.
Despite being knocked out for 15 minutes, the 40-year-old then proceeded to run across the carriageway again.
A still from BBC programme Traffic Cops which captured the moment the Eriksson twins jumped into the path of oncoming traffic(Image: BBC)At around 3pm, the Highways Agency received a report that two people were on the motorway. Sabina was discovered lying in lane three of the motorway, while sister Ursula, who had been climbing over the barrier of the central reservation, was struck by an articulated lorry at around 56mph and suffered two broken legs.
Both women miraculously survived the bizarre incidents. Upon police arriving at the scene, Sabina punched a female officer coming to her assistance and ran into traffic again.
She was eventually restrained and handcuffed.
Ursula also reacted to medical assistance - screaming and spitting at officers helping them. Following a trip to hospital via an air ambulance, Sabina was taken into police custody.
On May 19, 2008 the 40-year-old pleaded guilty to the charges of trespass on the motorway and assaulting a police officer at Fenton Magistrates' Court. She was sentenced to one day in prison, already served having spent a night in the cells, and was free to walk without a full psychiatric evaluation.
Upon her release, Sabina began to wander the streets of Stoke-on-Trent in an attempt to find her twin sister.
At 7pm, she was spotted by two men who were walking a dog in Christchurch Street, Fenton, one of which was 54-year-old Glenn Hollinshead.
Sabina asked Mr Hollinshead and his friend Peter Molloy if they knew of any nearby bed and breakfasts or hotels. Taking pity on her, the self-employed welder offered her a place to rest her head in his home in Duke Street, Fenton.
One of the twins being detained(Image: BBC)Mr Hollinshead, who had previously been a paramedic in the RAF, soon became alarmed by Sabina's behaviour and left his home just before midnight, whilst the Swedish native stayed the night. The next day, the kind-hearted 54-year-old attempted to help Sabina find her twin sister.
However, tragedy struck at 7.40pm as dinner was prepared - with Sabina stabbing Mr Hollinshead four times with a kitchen knife.
The victim staggered out of his home, telling a neighbour 'she stabbed me' before collapsing in an alleyway and sadly dying.
As frantic neighbours called the emergency services, Sabina, who was wielding a hammer, fled the scene of the crime. While on the run, she would strike her own head with a hammer and struck a concerned passing motorist with a roof tile she had in her pocket.
Her pursuit finally came to an end in Heron Cross, where she jumped from a 40ft high bridge onto the A50. Upon her visit to a local hospital, it was revealed that she had broke both ankles and fractured her skull.
No traces of alcohol or drugs were found in her system.
Sabina was arrested on June 6, 2008 as she recovered at University Hospital of North Staffordshire. Both sisters were released from hospital in September and relocated back to Sweden, before then moving to the United States.
After originally being charged with murder, Sabina went on to plead guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. Her plea was accepted by the prosecution at Nottingham Crown Court on 2 September 2010.
Sabina Erikkson and her twin ran on to the M6(Image: BBC)During neither her interrogation or the trial, Sabina offered no explanation for her actions that resulted in the death of an innocent man.
However, her lawyer made a suggestion during her trial that the twin was a 'secondary' sufferer of folie a deux, influenced by the 'primary' sufferer - in this case, her twin sister.
Her defence also told the court that Sabina was suffering from a rare psychiatric disorder which made her hear voices.
Folie a deux is also known as 'shared psychosis', in which delusional beliefs are transmitted from one individual to another.
It would mean that Sabina was highly susceptible to influence from her sister, and was acting in such a way because of her twin's actions.
Despite her defence's argument, Mr Justice Saunders sentenced Sabina to five years behind bars and was sent to Bronzefield Women's Prison, where she turned to Christianity.
He said: "While the mental illness resolved quickly, both psychiatrists agree it was serious and that she behaved in the way she did because of her illness. Her culpability for her behaviour is, on the medical evidence, accordingly low. She was suffering from delusions which she believed to be true and they dictated her behaviour.
Sabina Eriksson, a Swedish national from Ireland(Image: Staffordshire Police)"It is also not one of those cases where the defendant could have done something to avoid the onset.
It had a sudden onset, it was a serious illness while it lasted and it resolved rapidly."
Sabina would be left first eligible for release in 2011, after spending 439 days in custody ahead of sentencing.
Following the verdict, Mr Hollinshead's brother Garry told The Sentinel he believed that the criminal justice system had failed his late brother and the general public by allowing Sabina to walk free in society just two days after she cheated death and endangered the lives of others.
"If she is being considered to be mentally unfit at the time of committing a crime, there has to be a process," he said at the time. "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.
"We don't hold her [Sabina] 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 recognised much earlier."
One of the twins climbs over the M6 central reversvationHe concluded saying: "I do question the criminal justice system for allowing somebody like this to be let out [of her initial custody] 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 into 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."
How killer Sabina Eriksson ended up in Stoke-on-Trent to stab a man to death...
FRIDAY, MAY 16 - Sabina leaves her County Cork home with twin sister, Ursula.
SATURDAY, MAY 17 8.30am - Sabina and her sister go to St Anne Police Station, in Liverpool, to report concerns over her children.
Midday - They board a National Express coach to Victoria Station, in London.
1pm - The coach stops at Keele Services to change drivers.
It was not a scheduled comfort-break stop.
3.20pm - Police called to M6, just north of Keele Services. Ursula has run onto the carriageway in front of a lorry. Sabina runs in front of a silver Volkswagen Polo car and is knocked into the air.
Eriksson then regains consciousness, runs across the carriageway and punches a female police officer as she tries to stop her and then runs off. She is arrested and taken to the Northern Area Custody facility, at Etruria.
MONDAY, MAY 19 Sabina is charged with assaulting a police officer and trespassing onto a motorway. She appears before North Staffordshire magistrates at Fenton, is sentenced to one-day custody and released.
7pm - Sabina strikes up a conversation with Glenn Hollinshead and his friend Peter Molloy in Christchurch Road, Fenton, after they leave the Royal Oak pub.
They all go to Mr Hollinshead's home in Duke Street.
11.40pm - Mr Molloy leaves the property.
TUESDAY, MAY 20 Lunchtime: Mr Hollinshead phones brother, Paul, who lives in Blurton and works at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, and tells him about Sabina and her sister. He asks him if he can find out what ward Ursula is on in the hospital.
7.40pm - Mr Hollinshead goes outside and asks neighbour, Frank Booth, for some tea bags. Mr Booth is washing his minibus and asks Mr Hollinshead to wait until he has finished.
Mr Hollinshead goes back into the house. But 74 seconds later Mr Hollinshead comes back out of the house, saying: "she's stabbed me".
7.49pm - Paramedics on their way to a reported stabbing in Duke Street see Sabina standing on an island between two carriageways near Heron Cross roundabout off the A50. She is hitting herself on the head with a large hammer.
8pm - Motorist Joshua Grattage stops his car and takes the hammer off Sabina.
When Sabina sees the paramedics she runs towards the roundabout over the A50, followed by ambulance officers. She climbs the railings and jumps down to the A50. The paramedics are told to go to the stabbing incident in Duke Street.
8.05pm - Police arrive at Duke Street to find Mr Hollinshead's body in an alleyway.
FRIDAY, JUNE 6 Sabina is arrested while still a patient at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Sabina leaves hospital and is taken straight to the Northern Area Custody suite, in Etruria.
7.43pm - Sabina is charged with murdering Mr Hollinshead
Article continues belowFRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Sabina is back at North Staffordshire Magistrates charged with murder.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2009 Sabina's trial starts at Nottingham Crown Court.
She admits manslaughter with diminished responsibility.
NOVEMBER, 25 2009 - Sabina is sentenced to five years in prison.