Three sisters who drowned in the sea off Brighton have taken their own lives, a coroner has ruled.

Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, had been living together in Greenford, London, and were described by senior coroner Penelope Schofield as having lived very secluded lives following the death of their mother in 2010.

The sisters visited an area of Birmingham close to where their mother had drowned on 11 May before travelling to Brighton the following day.

In the early hours of 13 May, all three women drowned in adverse sea conditions off Brighton beach. The coroner said the sisters could not swim.

Their father, Joseph Jacobsen, said it was heartbreaking to lose all three of his daughters. He was among family members who followed the inquest proceedings via video link.

In an emotional statement read on his behalf, he said he had watched his daughters grow from little girls into "beautiful, intelligent women" and described them as having a special place in his heart.

He said there were no words that could adequately express the pain of losing a child, adding that losing all three of his daughters was a heartbreak beyond anything he could have imagined.

Jacobsen said he could not understand why his daughters' lives had ended so suddenly and expressed hope that they had been reunited with their mother "in God's eternal care".

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