Three sisters whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton coast died by suicide, a coroner has ruled. Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, from west London, entered the water in the early hours of May 13 while it was still dark, an inquest heard.
Senior coroner Penelope Schofield concluded at Woodvale Coroner’s Court in Brighton that the medical cause of death for all three women was drowning and that they died by suicide. There was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in their bodies, and no evidence to suggest they had been subject to violence, according to the post-mortem.
Journey to Brighton
The inquest heard the sisters had travelled by taxi to Birmingham on May 11 and were dropped off at Linton Walk, the street where their mother, who died by drowning in 2010, had lived. They arrived at 11.36pm and were picked up to return to the flat they lived in together in Greenford, west London, at 1.28am on May 12.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the hearing there was no CCTV to show what the women had been doing during their time in Birmingham. On the evening of May 12, they took a pre-booked taxi to Brighton and arrived near the seafront at 10.21pm. They are thought to have last been seen alive on CCTV from the beach at 2.42am on May 13.
Recovery and tributes
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 5.45am on May 13, before their bodies were pulled from the water. Jane was brought to shore by an RNLI crew, Christina was recovered from the sea by an RNLI lifeboat, and Rebecca was washed on to the shore of Brighton beach. All three were pronounced dead that morning by paramedics.
Ms Schofield told the inquest: “On May 13, in hours of darkness, they entered the sea at Brighton, they could not swim and sea conditions were adverse.” She added: “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. It is not for the court to speculate and sadly these reasons may never be known.”
The inquest heard Christina Walters suffered from anxiety and depression since her mother’s death, but Ms Adetoro was not registered with a doctor, and Rebecca Walters’ records had nothing of note, Mr Cullimore said.
In a written statement read to the court, their father Joseph Jacobson said: “There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child. 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 “cannot understand why their lives ended so suddenly”, but added: “You were my daughters, you will always be my daughters and I will love you for the rest of my life. May your beautiful souls rest in perfect peace.”
A GoFundMe page set up by the family for funeral costs and support raised more than £45,000.
