Three sisters who drowned off Brighton beach ended their lives together after visiting the place where their mother died, an inquest has heard.
Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, travelled from their shared home in Uxbridge to Birmingham less than 48 hours before their deaths. They visited their mother’s former home, the lake where she took her life and, it is thought, her grave.
The sisters spent about 90 minutes in Birmingham before taking a taxi back to London in the early hours of May 12. They travelled on to Brighton that evening, arriving at 10.21pm.
CCTV showed them walking along a road beside the beach for more than an hour. Police later identified figures believed to be the three women making their way on to the beach at 2.42am.
At around 5.45am, police and coastguard crews were alerted to reports of a woman in difficulty in the sea. All three women were subsequently recovered from the water and pronounced dead at the scene.
None of the sisters could swim, the inquest at Woodvale Coroner’s Court was told. Jane Adetoro was brought ashore by an RNLI crew, Christina Walters was recovered by lifeboat, and Rebecca Walters was washed on to the beach.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the inquest that two calls had been received reporting bodies in the sea. He said one body had been washed ashore and that the conditions were windy, with particularly rough seas.
Senior Coroner Penelope Schofield ruled that the sisters “entered the sea at West Beach, Brighton to end their lives”.
Their mother, Janice, died after going missing in December 2009. She had been experiencing stress-related mental health problems, was last seen by one of her daughters and was found dead three months later.
Following their mother’s death, the sisters moved to London together. Neighbours described them as private, while relatives said they had never got over their mother’s death.
Jane worked as an accountant and was described as taking on a motherly role towards her sisters. Christina had recently graduated from Brunel University.
Their father, Joseph Jacobson, told the inquest: “There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a child. It’s a heartbreak beyond anything I could imagine.”
He added: “Each had their own special place in my heart. They shared a special bond as sisters.”
