A United Kingdom coroner has ruled that three sisters of Nigerian descent whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton took their own lives.
The sisters, identified as Jane Adetoro, 36; Christina Walters, 32; and Rebecca Walters, 31, drowned in the sea in the early hours of May 13 under adverse sea conditions.
Senior Coroner Penelope Schofield told an inquest in Brighton that the sisters had lived together in Greenford, London, and led very secluded lives following the death of their mother, who also drowned in 2010.
According to evidence presented at the inquest, the sisters travelled to an area of Birmingham on May 11, reportedly close to where their mother died, before proceeding to Brighton the following day.
They drowned in the early hours of May 13. The inquest heard that none of the sisters could swim.
The coroner said the sisters were extremely private individuals, adding that the circumstances surrounding their decision to end their lives and their choice of Brighton as the location remained unclear.
“These three sisters lived very secluded lives. They were incredibly private. We don’t know why they took this course of action or, indeed, why they chose to do it in Brighton,” Schofield said.
Their father, Joseph Jacobson, who attended the inquest virtually, expressed profound grief over the loss of his three daughters.
In a written statement, he described their deaths as a heartbreak beyond anything he could have imagined.
“To lose all three of my precious daughters, Jane, Christina and Rebecca, is a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined,” he said.
He prayed for their souls to rest in peace and expressed hope that they had been reunited with their mother in God’s eternal care.
The tragedy has left unanswered questions about the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the three sisters, who had lived together in London before travelling to Brighton.
