3 UK-Nigerian sisters took own lives after mother’s drowning

A coroner in the United Kingdom has ruled that the  drowning of three British-Nigerian sisters at Brighton beach in May was a deliberate case of suicide. The official inquest concluded that the siblings intentionally entered the water despite the sea conditions.

The senior coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Penelope Schofield, identified the deceased as Jane Adetoro, 36; Christina Walters, 32; and Rebecca Walters, 31. The sisters, who lived together in Greenford, London, travelled to Brighton by taxi late on May 12 and were last seen alive at 2:42 a.m. the following day.

Investigations revealed that the trio had visited an area in Birmingham on May 11 close to where their mother drowned in 2010. Authorities also stated that the sisters could not swim, making their entry into the waters fatal.

The bereaved father, Joseph Jacobsen, during the Woodvale Coroner’s Court proceedings in a live video, lamented:

“There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child. To lose all three of my precious daughters is heartbreaking”.

Coroner Schofield, while delivering her verdict, stated that the motives behind the actions of the three sisters might never be uncovered, stressing that they lived highly secluded lives.

“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.”