Coroner Concludes Three Sisters Took Their Own Lives in Brighton Sea Deaths
Jane, Christina and Rebecca pictured with their father Joseph Jacobson when they were children (Image: family handout)
A coroner has concluded that the three sisters whose bodies were recovered from the sea off Brighton in May took their own lives.
Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, from Greenford, west London, were pulled from the water near Black Rock, off Madeira Drive, in the early hours of Wednesday 13 May 2026. Senior coroner Penelope Schofield concluded the inquest into their deaths at Woodvale Coroner's Court on Thursday 8 October, ruling that the sisters intended to end their lives.
"On May 13, in hours of darkness, they entered the sea at Brighton, they could not swim and sea conditions were adverse."
Ms Schofield said the sisters "lived very secluded lives" and were "incredibly private," adding that the reason behind their decision "sadly may never be known."
"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."
What the inquest heard
The inquest heard that two nights before their deaths, the sisters travelled by taxi to Birmingham and were dropped off at Linton Walk, near Brookvale Park Lake, at 11.36pm on 11 May. This was the street where their mother, Janice Adetoro, had lived before she died by drowning in the same lake in 2010. They were picked up and returned to the flat they shared in Greenford at 1.28am on 12 May. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore told the court there was no CCTV to show what the women had been doing during that time.
DCI Cullimore gave evidence that financial checks showed the sisters had cleared some of their bank accounts in the days before their deaths, and that Jane Adetoro had paid off a loan in full on 11 May.
Police searches of Christina Walters's electronic devices found she had made what the court heard described as "extensive searches" about suicide online in the month before her death. The inquest heard she had suffered from anxiety and depression since her mother's death. Jane Adetoro was not registered with a doctor, and Rebecca Walters's medical records had nothing of note.
On the evening of 12 May, the sisters took a pre-booked taxi to Brighton, a place they had no known connection to, arriving near the seafront at 10.21pm. The court heard the driver had noted a lack of conversation during the journey. CCTV showed the three pacing the seafront in the darkness at different points along Brighton's east beach. They are thought to have last been seen alive on CCTV at 2.42am on 13 May. A cyclist reported seeing a body on the beach and emergency services attended the scene at around 5.45am.
A post-mortem examination found all three women had drowned, with no evidence of drugs or alcohol in their bodies and no evidence that they had been subject to violence. DCI Cullimore told the hearing he had "remained open minded throughout and always considered whether there was third party involvement," but was now satisfied there had not been.
The father's words
The sisters' father, Joseph Jacobson, attended the hearing by videolink. During the inquest, he put a question to the coroner about the evidence of Christina's online searches.
"Have police got any proof that it was a suicide attempt, because based on the laptop, she could have been researching that, but that doesn't give police the final answer that it was a suicide attempt?"
Ms Schofield replied that the police could only provide the court with the evidence they had found. Following the conclusion of the inquest, Mr Jacobson issued a written statement paying tribute to his daughters.
"There are no words that can adequately express the pain of losing a child. To lose all three of my precious daughters, Jane, Christina and Rebecca, is a heartbreak beyond anything I could ever have imagined. You were my daughters, you will always be my daughters and I will love you for the rest of my life. May your beautiful souls rest in perfect peace."
In May, shortly after the sisters were formally identified, Mr Jacobson had released an earlier statement through Sussex Police, describing Jane, Christina and Rebecca as "unique and precious in her own way." A candlelit vigil organised by Women of Colour Brighton UK was held at Black Rock Beach on 24 May, which ImJustBrighton covered at the time (read our coverage of the vigil here).
The AI image that fuelled online speculation
In the weeks after the deaths, an image of the three sisters together as adults circulated widely online. Sussex Police later confirmed the image had been digitally created using artificial intelligence from older separate photographs, because the family did not have a recent picture of the three of them together.
The sisters' aunt, Ajike Adetoro, told reporters the family had simply "wanted AI to put it together and make it look good, all three of them together." Once the force learned the image had been artificially generated, it was withdrawn, and a genuine family photograph showing the sisters as children with their father was released in its place.
The AI-generated image had, in the meantime, fuelled a wave of online conspiracy theories about the circumstances of the sisters' deaths. The family publicly condemned the speculation, with Ms Adetoro telling The Times that the theories were "doing the family more harm than good." She described the sisters as "the closest sisters and best friends who did everything together" and "happy girls."
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