A YOUNG woman who struck and killed a pensioner with her mum’s car was suffering with schizophrenia and believed she was living in a simulation, a court heard.

Hivda Altuntop, 21, was behind the wheel of her mother’s Vauxhall Astra when she struck 73-year-old Penelope Coggan, who was crossing the road in April 2021.

Ms Coggan, who had been mowing the lawn at the Harewood Surgery, in Harwich Road, Great Oakley, died at the scene after she was thrown 20 yards by the impact.

Altuntop had taken her mum’s car without her permission, before driving from Dovercourt to Colchester to meet a cannabis dealer.

The prosecution say she smoked some of the cannabis and took eight or nine paracetamol tablets before the crash, which unfolded on her return journey.

On Wednesday, Dr Nuwan Galappathie, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, was called to the witness box by the defence.

Under questioning by defence barrister Abigail Bache, he said all medical professionals involved in the case agreed Altuntop suffers from schizophrenia.

The court heard the condition wasn't initially identified during her time on remand at HMP Peterborough, and only later became clear.

She exhibited "bizarre" and self-harming behaviour in custody, including shaving her eyebrows off and cutting words into her arm - including the word 'devil'.

Dr Galappathie said Altuntop's symptoms were "very long standing", continued while in prison and took a long time to improve with medication.

He said Altuntop "described hearing voices in her head and through her ears".

The court heard she went on to say the voices told her "everything is fake, [Altuntop] is an actor and her mother and father are fake".

Ms Bache asked whether Dr Galappathie believed Altuntop was fabricating her account.

"I didn’t get that impression at all," he said.

"I got the impression she didn't really like being interviewed, she didn't really want to be interviewed. She was uncomfortable."

Gazette: Flowers left near to the scene of the crash which claimed the life of Penelope CogganFlowers left near to the scene of the crash which claimed the life of Penelope Coggan (Image: Newsquest)

The court heard Altuntop believed "everything was a simulation" and "like the Matrix".

The jury was told she described seeing faces in the wall, eyes and faces in wood and seeing her mother as a hologram.

Dr Galappathie said: "For her, they provided evidence to her she was living in a simulation, that the world around her was not real and she was living in something similar to the Matrix."

Summarising his findings, Dr Galappathie said: "I formed the opinion she believed she was in a simulation and she was being controlled by others.

"Because she had a strong belief in her mind she was living in a simulation, the world around her was not real. So in her mind everything that was happening was 'hologramed'.

"She believed that [because of] her mental health problems, which she was not aware of.

"In her mind everything was fake, everything was a simulation.

"She would not have known the nature or quality of her acts."

Altuntop, of High Street, Dovercourt, denies two counts of aggravated vehicle taking, two counts of dangerous driving, two counts of possession of a knife, possession of cannabis, assaulting an emergency worker and causing death by dangerous driving.