An inquest in the United Kingdom has concluded that three sisters who drowned off the coast of Brighton took their own lives, 16 years after their mother died by drowning.
Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, lived together in Greenford, west London, and were described by senior coroner Penelope Schofield as having led “very secluded lives”.
The sisters’ mother drowned in Birmingham in 2010, a loss that reportedly had a profound effect on the family.
Their cousin, Natalie Walters-Daniel, told The Times that she believed the sisters never recovered from their mother’s death.
The inquest heard that the sisters travelled from London to Birmingham on May 11, 2026, before heading to Brighton the following day. They arrived in the coastal city by taxi at 10:21 p.m. on May 12.
The taxi driver reportedly observed that the women hardly spoke during the journey.
CCTV footage showed the sisters walking along different parts of the seafront before they entered the sea in the early hours of May 13, despite adverse conditions and being unable to swim.
According to a family account reported by The Times, the sisters had visited their mother’s grave and Brookvale Lake in Birmingham, where she drowned, in the 48 hours before their deaths.
Speaking at the inquest on Thursday, Schofield said the reasons behind the sisters’ actions might never be established.
“We don’t know why they took this course of action or indeed why they chose to do it in Brighton,” the coroner said, adding that it was not for the court to speculate.
The inquest also heard that searches of Christina’s laptop revealed extensive queries about suicide. She had reportedly experienced anxiety and depression since their mother’s death.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the court that Rebecca’s medical records contained “nothing of note”, while Jane was not registered with a doctor.
Post-mortem toxicology tests found no drugs or alcohol in the sisters’ systems, and investigators found no evidence that they had been subjected to violence.
Jane was brought ashore by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crew and pronounced dead at the scene. Christina was recovered by an RNLI lifeboat, while Rebecca was washed ashore at Brighton beach. Both were pronounced dead by paramedics.
Christina, who worked in accountancy, and Rebecca, who worked in human resources, had adopted their mother’s maiden name, Walters, while Jane retained their father’s surname, Adetoro.
Their father, Joseph Adetoro, described the deaths as “a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined”.
In a statement read at the inquest, he said he had watched his daughters grow from children into “beautiful, intelligent women”.
“There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child,” he said.
He added that he struggled to understand why their lives had ended so suddenly and expressed hope that they had been reunited with their mother “in God’s eternal care”.
Support is available: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please seek help from a trusted person or a qualified mental health professional. In Nigeria, the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) can be contacted on 0800 078 7746, subject to service availability.
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