A coroner has ruled that three sisters who drowned in the sea at Brighton Beach died by suicide. Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, all from Luton, were pulled from the water on May 13 and pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
At an inquest on Thursday, coroner Penelope Schofield gave the official cause of death as drowning and concluded that the women had taken their own lives. She said: "I have to consider why they entered the water in the hours of darkness when they couldn't swim. The sisters deliberately entered the water with the intent to end their lives."
Family background
Relatives said they had no knowledge that the women had travelled to Brighton in the early hours of that morning. However, they suggested the sisters may have journeyed to the East Sussex coast in remembrance of their mum, who drowned in Birmingham in 2010.
Their father Joseph Jacobsen said: "There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a child. It's a heartbreak beyond anything I could imagine. Each had their own special place in my heart. They shared a special bond as sisters."
He added: "I find some comfort in my Christian faith. They were my daughters - they were loved and they mattered. I'm left with memories that I will have for the rest of my life."
Investigation details
Det Chief Inspector Cullimore said: "On Wednesday, May 13, two calls were received reporting bodies could be seen in the sea in Brighton. One body appeared lifeless and had been washed up on the shore. It was windy and the sea was particularly rough."
Police scoured through thousands of hours of CCTV to find out what happened to the sisters. The inquest revealed they found the women had used a pre-booked taxi to leave London for Brighton. They found the last sightings of the girls near the pier and on the sea front. Several CCTV cameras picked them up - one using a mobile phone, and one using a mobile torch.
Members of the sisters' family are not present in person but some are watching online via a TV link.
