My terrifying ordeal... Co Antrim woman tells of the night a menacing mystery driver pursued her for miles
A YOUNG female motorist has told of her terrifying ordeal after a car attempted to lure her to stop on the M2 motorway in Co Antrim, then tailgated her for several miles to Ballymena in a dramatic late-night pursuit.
Broughshane student Laura McKillop (19) fears the incident was an attempt to carjack or attack a lone female driver.
She is urging other young women driving alone to take care after she was followed by a vehicle which initially posed as a car in difficulties near junction six of the M2 motorway, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The car then pursued Laura down the M2, before coming to a sudden stop at Dunsilly roundabout, where Laura narrowly avoided a crash. The vehicle then resumed its pursuit of her car along the A26.
“It began just past the first turn off for Antrim on the M2 at around 1.30am,” she told the Belfast Telegraph.
“I was returning to my family home from my job at a bar in Belfast when I caught up with a car in front of me on the motorway, which was otherwise deserted.
“Suddenly the car slowed right down, put on its hazard lights and drove on to the hard shoulder, but I didn’t stop as I was on my own and it was 1.30am. I drove on past and the car took off again to catch up with me, so that shows that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle.
“They came up behind me and started flashing their lights on and off as if they were trying to dazzle me. They were flashing at other cars we encountered as well to stop them coming between us.
“They pursued me in the fast lane, overtaking me at at least 80mph.
“Then, just before the junction at Dunsilly roundabout, they stopped the car dead on the motorway and I had to do an emergency stop to avoid crashing into them. Fortunately, I managed to put my car into first gear rather than stopping dead, and was able to get past them.”
The vehicle continued to pursue Laura down the A26 to the Seven Towers (Ballee) roundabout, and then along the dual carriageway towards the turn- off to Ballymena at Pennybridge.
Fearing that her pursuants would follow her home, and with no hands-free phone kit in her car to enable her to call the police, Laura instead tried to find a crowded place to seek help.
“I didn’t want to show them where I live, as my family would have been sleeping, and I would have had to have gotten out of the car by myself to run into the house,” she continued.
“Instead of heading towards Broughshane, I went into Ballymena hoping there would be people at McDonald’s, but it was deserted and the car was still following me.
“They were flashing their lights at other cars to get out of the way so they could stay behind me.
“I did a complete circle of Ballymena with them following me, and thankfully there were no red lights where I had to stop.
“Then another car got between us, and I took a chance and made a random left turn at a rounda- bout. I don’t think the car saw where I had gone, and they drove straight on. If they had continued following me, my plan was to go to McDonald’s and jump into the drive-through!”
Laura, who is studying to become a primary school teacher, says that she “didn’t have time to feel scared” during the car chase, but “felt sick” when she got home.
“I think it was adrenaline which kept me going during it,” she continued.
“When I got home I went to bed and passed out.
“The next day I told my parents what had happened and phoned the police, and my mum urged me to put the details on Facebook to alert other people.
“It was a very distinctive car — I think it was a burnt orange Nissan Qashqai SUV-type vehicle.
“My parents have bought me a hands free phone kit since the incident as a safety precaution.
“I don’t know whether they wanted my car or if they saw that I was a lone female driver and were planning a sexual assault or worse.
“I just want to warn other drivers to take care in case they come across a vehicle behaving oddly, especially late at night and with the darker evenings coming.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police received a report shortly after 7:30pm on Thursday, September 7 from a female who believed she had been followed by an unidentified vehicle while travelling on the M2 in the early hours of that morning.
“Enquiries into this incident are ongoing.”
They were flashing their lights at other cars to get out of their way
The PSNI has published safety information for motorists online at: www.psni.police.uk