Three sisters in Britain have taken their own lives together, following an agreement they made after visiting the spot where their mother took her own life 16 years earlier.

Jane, 36, Christina, 32, and Rebecca, 31, were found dead on 13 May. An inquest at Woodvale Coroner’s Court today (8 October) heard that, less than 48 hours before the tragedy, they had travelled from the home they shared in Uxbridge, London, to Erdington in Birmingham, according to the Daily Mail. They got off at Lyndon Walk, near the lake in Brookvale Park, where they visited their mother’s old home before going on to the lake where she had ended her life in 2010. It is believed they also visited her grave.

After staying in Birmingham for just 90 minutes, they took a taxi back to London in the early hours of 12 May and left for Brighton that same evening. They arrived in Brighton at 10.21pm and were picked up by security cameras on the road beside the beach. For more than an hour they walked up and down the road, until at 2.42am cameras recorded three figures, whom police believe were the sisters, heading towards the beach.

About three hours later, police received reports of a woman in difficulty in the water, and the coastguard, on reaching the scene, found the three bodies.

The post-mortem examination found that all three women had died from drowning. No drugs or alcohol were detected in their systems, and there was no evidence that they had suffered violence.

Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore said: “On Wednesday 13 May we received two calls reporting bodies in the sea at Brighton. One body showed no signs of life and had been washed up on the shore. There were strong winds and the sea was particularly rough.”

The sisters‘ father, Joseph Jacobsen, told the hearing: “There are no words that can adequately describe the loss of a child. It is a pain beyond anything I could have imagined. Each of them had her own special place in my heart. They shared a special bond as sisters. I find some comfort in my Christian faith. They were my daughters. They were loved, and their lives mattered. I am left with memories that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

“Your absence has left a hole in my heart that nothing can fill. You were my daughters, you will always be my daughters, and I hope your souls rest in eternal peace,” he added. Coroner Schofield told the court that the three women had “entered the sea at Brighton’s West Beach with the intention of ending their lives”.

“These three sisters lived isolated lives and were extremely private people. We do not know why they decided to follow this course, nor why they chose to do it in Brighton. It is not the court’s job to speculate and, sadly, those reasons may never be known,” the coroner said.

They had cleaned the flat and paid off their debts

The inquest heard that, before travelling to Brighton, the sisters had made preparations for their deaths. They had tidied and cleaned their flat, removing personal belongings, paid off all their debts and closed their bank accounts.

Christina, who had suffered from depression following her mother’s death, had also carried out extensive research on her computer about suicide and had searched for seaside locations.

The three women died 16 years after the death of their mother, Janice, who drowned after going missing in December 2009. At the time, her daughters were 20, 16 and 15. Janice had last been seen by one of her daughters and was struggling with mental health problems. In October 2009 she had turned up at a police station displaying “paranoid delusions”, according to relatives.

Her body was found three months after she was reported missing. Following her death, the three sisters returned together to London, having previously moved to Birmingham with her after she separated from their father.

Neighbours described the sisters as very private people and said that their shopping was delivered to the flat every week by a delivery service. Jane worked as an accountant and, according to witnesses, had taken on the “mother’s role” for her two younger sisters. Christina, who together with Rebecca had changed her surname to Walters, adopting their mother’s maiden name, had recently graduated from Brunel University and also worked in accounting, while Rebecca worked in human resources.

The sisters’ cousin, Natalie Walters-Daniel, had previously said that the women had never managed to get over their mother’s death.