A Coroner is an independent judicial officer. They are assisted by Coroner’s Officers and secretarial staff.

The Coroner investigates and records the causes and circumstances of all deaths where the cause is unknown, or that was violent or unnatural, or occurred whilst the deceased was in lawful custody.

This information is only about our local Coroner, you can find out more about the role of a Coroner.

If you are concerned about a death you are entitled to raise these concerns with the Coroner.

Our Office is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm and on Fridays 9am to 3.30pm, except for Bank Holidays, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Our address is : Civic Centre, Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth. BH2 6DY.

01202 123 900

coroner.service@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

The Coroner's team

The Senior Coroner for Dorset is Mrs Rachael Griffin. The Area Coroner for Dorset is Mr Brendan Allen. The Assistant Coroners are Mr Richard Middleton, Mrs Victoria Cook and Mrs Deborah Rookes. You can contact them at the Coroner's Office.

The Senior Coroner for Dorset covers deaths that occur in the administrative county of Dorset or where the body of a deceased person is found in Dorset, even if they died elsewhere.

The Assistant Coroners act when the Senior Coroner is not available. They have the full powers of the Senior Coroner.

Find out about inquest hearings

You can find all publicly available information here. Please do not contact the Coroner's Court office, staff or police press office as they cannot give you any further information.

In Person Attendance and Remote access for members of the Press and Public

The courts are open to members of the press and the public, except in exceptional circumstances.

If you wish to attend court in person, it would be helpful if you could notify our offices in advance.

Under the current legislation, participants to inquests including interested persons and witnesses are permitted, with the Coroner's approval, to attend remotely.

For anyone wishing to observe remotely, permission from the Coroner may also be granted.

All requests to attend hearings remotely will be placed before the Coroner for approval. In order to allow sufficient time to consider any request please complete the relevant document, with as much detail as possible and submit a minimum of two working days prior to the hearing. The form is accessed by clicking the above link.

The document must then be submitted by email to: coroner.service@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Inquests to be opened week commencing Monday 31 March 2025

Location: Dorset Coroner's Court, Civic Centre, Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth, BH2 6DY

Date	Deceased	Date of Death	Place of Death	Place of Residence	Time of Hearing	Age	Coroner
Monday 31 March 2025
Tuesday 01 April 2025
Wednesday 02 April 2025
Thursday 03 April 2025
Friday 04 April 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 31 March 2025 to Friday 11 April 2025

Location: Dorset Coroner's Court, Civic Centre, Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth, BH2 6DY

Date	Deceased	Date of Death	Place of Death	Place of Residence	Time of Hearing	Age	Coroner
Monday 31 March 2025
Tuesday 01 April 2025	William Edward Beavis	15.07.2024	Weymouth	Taunton	10.00am	26	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 02 April 2025	John Brian Clark	20.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	84	Brendan Allen
Thursday 03 April 2025	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	11.00am (PIR)	56	Rachael Griffin
	Dr Colin Edwin Broomfield	08.11.2024	Wimborne	Wimborne	12.00pm	71	Richard Middleton
	Trevor James Lee	06.11.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	82	Richard Middleton
Friday 04 April 2025	Patricia Ann McAuley	20.08.2024	Bournemouth	Dorchester	10.00am	80	Richard Middleton
Monday 07 April 2025	Edward Ashley Reeve	04.01.2022	Christchurch	Christchurch	2.00pm (PIR)	35	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 08 April 2025
Wednesday 09 April 2025	Marcus Van Der Westhuizen	03.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	29	Debbie Rookes
	Marian Irene Crane	13.08.2024	Poole	Verwood	10.00am	80	Richard Middleton
	Jack Colum Finch	16.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	30	Debbie Rookes
Thursday 10 April 2025	Amie Louise Gray	25.05.2024	Bournemouth	Poole	10.00am (PIR)	34	Rachael Griffin
	Jennifer Anne Cook	11.08.2024	Bridport	Bridport	10.00am	77	Richard Middleton
	Graham John Lines	05.11.2024	Dorchester	Wareham	10.00am	66	Debbie Rookes
	Shirley Clarice Robinson	24.10.2024	Dorchester	Sturminster Newton	2.00pm	90	Richard Middleton
	Sean Mark Simpson	09.11.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	41	Debbie Rookes
Friday 11 April 2025	Tianna Perrin-Parker	01.01.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	20	Richard Middleton
	Roger Krishna Khanna	22.10.2024	Swanage	Swanage	12.00pm	78	Richard Middleton
	Andrew Thomas Flinders	01.08.2024	Gillingham	Gillingham	2.00pm	40	Richard Middleton

Complaints about a Coroner's decision or the outcome of an Inquest can only be dealt with through proceedings in the High Court. The Coroner's office can explain the procedure, but cannot give legal advice. If you are researching past cases you have to apply to the Coroner in writing first before you can be given the information you are requesting.

Requests for more information

For more detailed information and/or copies of documents, you need to explain your relationship to the deceased and why you want the information.

Feedback and complaints

All complaints about the administration of the Dorset Coroner Service, or the conduct of individual coroners or their officers should first be raised by writing to the senior Coroner.

The Coroner cannot normally discuss cases which she is or has been involved with, but comments and suggestions on improving the Coroner Service are always welcome.