Range Rover driver accused of killing man in 127mph crash on M25 was ‘overcome by mania’

A Range Rover driver accused of killing a man and seriously injuring his wife in a 127mph crash was behaving erratically in the days leading up to the collision, the Old Bailey heard.

Jill Higgins, 54, flipped her car at speed on the M25 near Potters Bar, hitting a Vauxhall driven by Daniel Dayalan.

Mr Dayalan, 60, was declared dead at the scene on September 23, 2017, while his wife Niromi, 55, suffered serious injuries and needed urgent hospital treatment.

Higgins, who faces charges of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving, was suffering from an “episode of mania with psychotic symptoms” and says she is not criminally responsible for the crash.

The court heard Higgins was “calm and very polite” at the roadside after the collision, but invited one of the witnesses to her wedding — even though no nuptials were planned.

Police initially believed Higgins was drunk, the court heard, after she was seen lying next to a crash barrier, but she passed a breathalyser test and tested negative for drugs. They reported her behaviour as “extremely weird”.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Nieves Mercadillo told the court that days earlier Higgins’s family had expressed concerns as she started behaving erratically and went on spending sprees.

Higgins, who lost her husband to a brain tumour six months earlier, had struck up a relationship with a neighbour — splashing out on a holiday, an £80,000 car and a Rolex. She had also been planning to buy a holiday home in Wales and a house for her daughter.

Dr Mercadillo said Higgins went to visit her father and brother in Marlow two days before the crash, but they had a row about her spending — and her brother locked her in the house for her own safety. However, Higgins escaped and went shopping in Windsor.

Dr Mercadillo said: “She withdrew £490 from the bank and gave it to a homeless person ... She didn’t have enough money to pay for her purchases in Windsor and had to leave them at the store. She went to a restaurant, her card was declined and she tried to leave without paying. She gave a new iPad as payment for the meal.”

Jurors heard Higgins then walked to Heathrow airport, where she tried but failed to take a flight. Dr Mercadillo said her “bizarre and inappropriate behaviour” continued after her arrest, when she stripped naked in front of police officers and rolled around on the floor.

She also complained of “abdominal pain” and “believed she was giving birth to three phantom babies”, the consultant added. Higgins was sectioned under the mental health act until October 18, when she voluntarily agreed to stay in the hospital ward to continue treatment.

Higgins’s Range Rover reached speeds of 127mph just before the crash, according to dash-cam footage, and she admits being behind the wheel.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley has told the jury two psychiatrists found Higgins “was suffering from an episode of mania with psychotic symptoms”. Higgins, from Warrington, Cheshire, denies causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.