UK sisters’ suicide pact: Siblings died on Brighton Beach after visiting lake where mum took own life

Three sisters who drowned themselves at a UK beach did so intentionally less than 48 hours after visiting the lake where their mother took her own life 16 years earlier, an inquest has found.

Jade Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, all died under the waves at Brighton beach in May.

The three siblings were pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services and police received calls to the beach before 6am on May 13.

On Thursday an inquest determined that the trio had formed a suicide pact in the wake of a trip from the home they shared in London to Birmingham made via Uber on May 11.

As part of their 90-minute stint in Birmingham, the sisters headed to Brookvale Park Lake where the former home of their mother Janice Adetoro was located. They then were then picked up by car from near Brookvale Lake, where she died in 2010.

The inquest failed to produce evidence backing up earlier theories that the trio had also visited their mum’s grave.

The inquest hear that after travelling back to London early on May 12, they made their way to Brighton that night.

CCTV revealed the sisters arriving at the beachside city at 10.21pm, with footage showing subsequent sightings of them on a road adjacent to the beach, according to the Daily Mail. It is understood all three could not swim.

The last sighting of the siblings were near the pier and on the seafront on Brighton beach at 2.42am on May 13, with two of them seen using phone torches.

Three hours afterwards emergency services received their first reports of a woman in the water in distress.

The inquest heard from Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore that on May 13 Brighton’s beachside conditions were particularly treacherous with high winds and rough waters.

The Sun reported that he added that “On Wednesday, May 13, two calls were received reporting bodies could be seen in the sea in Brighton.

“One body appeared lifeless and had been washed up on the shore. It was windy and the sea was particularly rough.”

The body was that of Rebecca Walters. Lifeboats brought back Ms Adetoro and Christina Walters from the water, but both were declared dead at the scene on the morning of May 13.

The Mail reported that a post-mortem found all three women had drowned and cited no drugs or alcohol in their bodies. There was also no evidence to suggest they had been subject to violence.

Authorities subsequently found that the three women had set their affairs in order, with one of them paying off the outstanding balance on a loan the day before the fatal trip to Brighton.

The investigation also quickly found that their mother had also died in similar circumstances after going missing in December 2009. Her body was found three months later.

It was reported that Janice Adetoro suffered stress-related mental health issues with an inquest into her death reporting that at one stage she had gone to a police station while suffering “paranoid delusions”.

The sisters subsequently moved from Birmingham to London but failed to socialise and remained intensely private, Thursday’s inquest was told.

Senior Coroner Schofield said in her judgement: “It is clear that the medical cause of death for each of these three women is drowning.

“How and why they enter the water is for this court to determine. They had no connection with Brighton or the Brighton area.

“We heard a taxi driver had picked them up from their address at 10.52pm. The women were last seen alive on Brighton beach.

“Sadly their bodies were found a few hours later.

“They had been to Birmingham to visit their mothers grave, we assume their mothers grave.

“Sadly their mother had died in 2010 and the record shows she had died from drowning.

“Many of the ladies’ accounts had been cleared of funds and in some cases debts had been settled.

“Jane and her sister Rebecca shared the lease on their two bedroom flat.

“It showed very few belongings and looked like it had been cleaned.”

She said she was forced to consider why the trio went into the water in darkness, knowing full well that they were unable to swim.

“I find that the sisters deliberately entered the water with the intention to end their lives. They lived very secluded lives, they were incredibly private.”

Their father Joseph Jacobsen expressed his grief to the Brighton Coroners Court.

“There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a child,” he told the inquest.

“It’s a heartbreak beyond anything I could imagine. Each had their own special place in my heart. They shared a special bond as sisters.”

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