An inquest in the United Kingdom has ruled that three Nigerian sisters who drowned in the sea off Brighton took their own lives. The coroner concluded that Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, died by suicide after entering the water in difficult conditions in the early hours of May 13.
The sisters, who resided together in Greenford, west London, had reportedly become increasingly withdrawn following the death of their mother in 2010. Evidence presented at the inquest indicated that the trio visited an area of Birmingham near where their mother had died on May 11 before traveling to Brighton the following day. A taxi driver who transported them to Brighton at 10:21 pm on May 12 noted that the sisters were quiet during the journey.
According to closed-circuit television footage, the sisters were last seen alive on Brighton’s eastern seafront at 2:42 am on May 13. None of the women were able to swim. Jane was brought ashore by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and pronounced dead, while Christina was recovered by an RNLI lifeboat. Rebecca’s body was later washed ashore, and both were pronounced dead by paramedics.
Coroner Penelope Schofield stated that the court could not speculate on the specific reasons behind the sisters’ actions. However, investigators found no evidence of violence, and toxicology tests revealed no presence of drugs or alcohol in their systems. Police examination of Christina’s laptop uncovered 227 references to water and 179 references to suicide, with records indicating she had experienced anxiety and depression after their mother’s passing.
Medical records for Rebecca contained no significant information relevant to the inquest, and Jane was not registered with a doctor. The inquest focused on the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the sisters’ movements in the hours preceding their entry into the sea.
Their father, Joseph Jacobsen, described the loss of his three daughters as heartbreaking. The ruling brings a formal conclusion to the investigation into the deaths of the sisters, who had been living in the UK prior to the incident.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
