Ursula and Sabina Eriksson
Ursula and Sabina Eriksson (* 1967 ) are identical twins of Swedish origin who became known in the UK in 2008 through a television documentary. Under the influence of a rare mental disorder, the so-called folie à deux , they crossed the busy M6 motorway in England several times on foot , and were hit by vehicles. Despite their injuries, they resisted the police and rescue workers who came to the rescue . A few days after the incident, one of the sisters, Sabina Eriksson, stabbed a resident in nearby Stoke-on-Trent with a knife after being released from custody.
prehistory
The sisters, who were often teased in their childhood, grew up in very poor conditions with their brother in Sunne , western Sweden . They had emigrated from Sweden in 2003 and settled separately, Sabina in Mallow , Ireland , Ursula in the United States . They first met in Ireland in 2008 before translating to England to take a bus to the capital, London .
Incidents in England
Bus trip
After arriving in Liverpool on May 17, 2008, the twins boarded a National Express Group coach to London. During a break at a rest stop near Stoke-on-Trent, they suddenly got off the bus saying they weren't feeling well. However, the driver's attention was drawn to the fact that both of them were noticeably tightly keeping the bags they were carrying and demanded that they be inspected, as he suspected that they were carrying illegal items or narcotics . After being denied access, the bus continued its journey without the twins who were left at the rest stop. The leaseholder of the rest stop had been informed and, since he also considered the couple to be suspicious, had called the police. Police officers arriving talked to them and took no further action because they believed they were harmless.
Walking on the M6 motorway
Ursula and Sabina Eriksson then walked between the two central barriers along the M6. They were noticed a short time later through the close monitoring of the motorways with video cameras and should be intercepted in order to avoid an accident. This fear, however, came true when both climbed over the lane and ran into the traffic, surprisingly only slightly injured. Arriving emergency services accompanied both on the hard shoulder to talk to them. Also present was a patrol from the traffic police, who was accompanied by a reporter from the English television broadcaster BBC for the purpose of a documentary, who recorded the events with his camera. While the conversation was still going on, both sisters suddenly ran again - despite attempts by the police to hold them back - into the traffic on the thoroughfare. Ursula Eriksson was hit by a truck and seriously injured, Sabina Eriksson by a small car, where she also sustained injuries and lost consciousness for 15 minutes. Despite their injuries, both resisted the help of the police, ambulance services and drivers present. The less injured Sabina Eriksson straightened up and, after attacking a police officer, ran again across the lane separation into the opposite lane. There she was overpowered by several police officers and first responders and taken to an ambulance where she was sedated .
Killing Glenn Hollinshead
While her sister Ursula remained in the hospital due to her leg injuries, Sabina Eriksson was released from court on May 19, 2008 after she had previously been sentenced to one day of arrest for attacking the police officer and for illegally entering the motorway. In addition to the short imprisonment, the fact that no psychiatric report had been obtained was later criticized.
Eriksson then walked the streets of Stoke-on-Trent, where around 7:00 p.m. she ran into Glenn Hollinshead, 54, and a friend who were walking a dog. After a brief chat in which she asked about a bed and breakfast hotel, Hollinshead offered her to spend the night in his apartment. Eriksson accepted the offer, whereupon all three of them went to Hollinshead's apartment. After a short time, the two men noticed the woman's strange, paranoid behavior. Hollinshead's friend left the apartment late that evening, leaving them both behind.
The next day, Hollinshead phoned various hospitals to find Sabina Eriksson's sister. At around 7:40 p.m., he left his house and asked a neighbor who was present for tea bags, which he then took back to his house. About a minute later he stumbled out of the house again, explaining to his neighbor that she had stabbed him ("She stabbed me") before he fell to the floor. Despite an immediate emergency call from the neighbor, he died of his five stab wounds.
Escape and arrest
Sabina Eriksson had left the house after the homicide and was running down the street with a hammer in her hand that she hit her head. A passing motorist, watching the woman's strange goings-on, stopped and tried to overwhelm her, but was hit by Eriksson with the part of a roof tile she was carrying. Paramedics who had arrived in the meantime continued to pursue Eriksson, who shortly afterwards jumped from a twelve-meter high bridge onto a road below. She suffered several fractures that made it necessary to stay in hospital for several months.
process
On September 11, 2008, Sabina Eriksson was charged with the murder; the trial did not begin until September 1, 2009 because of problems with obtaining medical records from Sweden. Eriksson pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility , but made no statement about her conduct or motives during the police interrogation and trial.
Both the prosecutor and the defense took the position that Eriksson had suffered from insanity during her actions but was sane again during the trial. The defense stated that the client was affected by the mental illness Folie à deux , i.e. a common delusional disorder that is directly related to a second person, with one of the persons transferring their delusional disorder to the other, previously healthy caregiver .
The motion for manslaughter with reduced culpability was accepted and Sabina Eriksson was sentenced to five years in prison. The court expressed understanding that the judgment would not appear appropriate for the relatives, but justified the judgment with the mental disturbance of the defendants and their consequent low level of guilt. The judgment is therefore suitable to protect the public, but not to appreciate the grief of relatives or the value of Hollinshead's life.
“She [Sabina] suffered from delusions which she believed were true and which guided her behavior. It's not one of those cases where the defendant could have done anything to prevent the outbreak. "
aftermath
Even after the investigation and trial were over, many questions remained unanswered. No drugs were found in the twins and the examination of a blood sample from Ursula Eriksson had shown no traces of alcohol or illegal substances. The motive for the murder of Glenn Hollinshead remained as unclear as the cause of the events on the M6 motorway. Hollinshead's friend Peter Molloy, like the politician Robert Flello, called for an investigation into the way in which the judiciary was handling the matter. The murdered man's brother, Garry Hollinshead, criticized the justice system for making it possible for Eriksson to kill his brother.
“I question the criminal justice system that allows someone like that to be released if they are able to commit such a crime. Her mental state should have been properly assessed based on what she did on the highway and the police's experiences with her. Her mental disorder should have been addressed before she was released into society. Glenn [Hollinshead] saw Eriksson in need and was only trying to help. He was quick to respond when someone needed help. It was his way. He tried to help. He would help everyone. If he had seen a fight on the street and one was losing, he would help. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Expressen.se: Kvinnans äldre bror: De var jagade av galningar. ( Memento of August 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved November 25, 2011
- ↑ Thisisstaffordshire.co.uk: Why was Sabina Eriksson free to kill? Retrieved November 25, 2011
- ↑ a b Thisisstaffordshire.co.uk: How killer Sabina Eriksson ended up in Stoke-on-Trent to stab Glenn Hollinshead to death ... Retrieved November 25, 2011
- ↑ BBC News: Killer had psychiatric disorder. Retrieved November 25, 2011
- ↑ BBC News: M6 dash woman jailed over killing. Retrieved November 25, 2011
- ↑ Thisisstaffordshire.co.uk: TV Preview: Madness In The Fast Lane - BBC1, 10.35pm Accessed November 25, 2011
- ↑ Thisisstaffordshire.co.uk: Devastated family call for answers over killing. Retrieved November 25, 2011