Father's 'Heartbreak Beyond Imagination' as Coroner Rules Brighton Sisters Died by Suicide

Senior coroner Penelope Schofield has ruled that three Brighton sisters drowned after taking their own lives, concluding they entered the sea intending to die in the early hours of 13 May.

In findings delivered on Thursday, Ms Schofield said that sisters Jane Adetoro, 36, and her half-sisters Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, died by suicide. The medical cause of death for all three was drowning.

Their father, Joseph Jacobson, followed the inquest by video link. In a statement read to the court, he described the loss of his three daughters as 'a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined'.

Ms Schofield said the reasons for the women's actions were unknown. 'These three sisters lived very secluded lives, they were incredibly private,' she said. 'We do not 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.'

She recorded a conclusion of suicide for each of the women and said she was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that they had intended to end their lives. The court heard that there was no evidence they had been pushed or forced into the water, and that the circumstances pointed to a joint decision taken in the hours before they entered the sea.

Final Hours Before Brighton Tragedy

The inquest heard that the sisters lived together in Greenford, west London. Their mother drowned in 2010, when they were all young adults, and her death was said to have had a lasting impact on the family.

They travelled to Birmingham late on 11 May and returned to their London home in the early hours of 12 May. The hearing was told that police had been unable to establish a clear reason for the Birmingham journey from the material available, and no concerns were raised with any authorities during that trip.

That evening they took a taxi to Brighton, arriving at 10.21pm BST. The driver's evidence, read to the court, described little conversation during the journey and nothing in their behaviour that caused him alarm.

CCTV footage showed the women walking along the seafront. They were last seen on camera at 2.42am on 13 May, heading towards the water. No witnesses reported seeing them enter the sea and there were no emergency calls from the sisters' phones in the moments before they disappeared from view.

The court heard that none of the sisters could swim. RNLI crews recovered them that morning. Ms Adetoro was brought ashore and declared dead at the scene. Christina Walters was recovered from the sea by lifeboat, while Rebecca Walters was washed on to Brighton beach. Both were pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Evidence From Police and Doctors

Post-mortem examinations found that all three women died by drowning. Toxicology tests found no evidence of drugs or alcohol, and there were no injuries to suggest a struggle or the involvement of anyone else.

Sussex Police said in September that its investigation had concluded, with no evidence of criminality or third-party involvement.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the inquest that officers examining Christina Walters' laptop had found references to water and suicide. These references were among the factors considered by investigators in assessing what had happened in the hours leading up to the deaths.

The court heard that Christina Walters had experienced anxiety and depression following her mother's death. Her GP notes recorded periods of low mood and anxiety after 2010, but there was no recent record of her expressing thoughts of self-harm to medical professionals.

Rebecca Walters' medical records showed nothing of note, and Ms Adetoro was not registered with a GP. The inquest was told there was no record of any of the sisters being under the care of specialist mental health services at the time of their deaths.

Father Speaks of 'Heartbreak Beyond Imagination'

Mr Jacobson told the court he had watched his daughters grow from little girls into 'beautiful, intelligent women', each of whom held 'a special place in my heart'.

'There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child,' he said. 'To lose all three of my precious daughters is a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined.'

He said he could not understand why their lives had ended so suddenly, and expressed the hope that they had been reunited with their mother 'in God's eternal care'.

He thanked the emergency services and those who had tried to help his daughters, and said he wanted people to remember them for the love they had brought to those around them rather than for the way they died.