Three sisters inquest opens at Brighton court — The S U N
the s u n can report that an inquest has opened into the deaths of three sisters who died in the sea off Brighton beach on 13 May. Penelope Schofield, the senior coroner, opened the hearing at Brighton & Hove Coroner's Court on Friday and offered condolences to their father, Joseph.
Schofield told him: "It must be a difficult day for your family." She added: "The loss of your daughters in these tragic circumstances must be unbearable." The court heard that Sussex Police had reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and spoken to a number of witnesses.
Brighton & Hove Coroner's Court
The three women were Jane Adetoro, Christina Walters and Rebecca Walters. They were living together in Greenford, London. Sussex Police said there was no third-party involvement in their deaths, but the recorded cause of death had not yet been ascertained.
That leaves the coroner's process focused on how the sisters came to be in the water and what happened before they died. Schofield said the inquest would "stops the social media speculation" around their deaths, and police have said their work includes "a number of lines of inquiry, which include understanding exactly who Jane, Christina and Rebecca were, to help us build a picture of how and why they came to be at the beach that morning".
Sussex Police inquiry
Police have already traced some of the final movements. Jane Adetoro's body was brought to shore by the RNLI and she was declared dead at the scene. Christina Walters was recovered from the sea by an RNLI lifeboat and pronounced deceased at Brighton Marina. Rebecca Walters was found when her body washed ashore near the Black Rock.
The family has now formally identified all three bodies, and the coroner's court has begun the process of recording what is known about the deaths before reaching any conclusion. For families watching the case, the first legal step is now public, and the investigation remains centered on the questions the court has begun to test in open session.
