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 10 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 10 March 2025	Diane Elizabeth Archer	26.02.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	1.30pm	79	Rachael Griffin
	Peter William Pavey	22.12.2024	Dorchester	Weymouth	1.30pm	77	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 11 March 2025
Wednesday 12 March 2025
Thursday 13 March 2025
Friday 14 March  2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 10 March 2025 to Friday 21 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 10 March 2025	Cyrus Brian Perry	08.06.2023	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	Alexander James Bendall	22.04.2023	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	18	Rachael Griffin
	Ethan Downes-Smith	17.05.2021	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	12.00pm (PIR)	1 month	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 11 March 2025	Cyrus Brian Perry	08.06.2023	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	11.00am (PIR)	89	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 12 March 2025	Cyrus Brian Perry	08.06.2023	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	Allan John Hunter	29.05.2024	Bridport	Bridport	10.00am	62	Richard Middleton
	Amy Almond	02.09.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	11.30am	91	Richard Middleton
	Wendy May Tucker	04.10.2024	Dorchester	Weymouth	2.00pm	70	Richard Middleton
Thursday 13 March 2025	Cyrus Brian Perry	08.06.2023	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	Jayne Marie Purkiss	19.06.2024	Poole	Poole	10.00am	39	Richard Middleton
Friday 14 March 2025	Elaine Mary Waldron	12.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	69	Richard Middleton
Monday 17 March 2025	Nuno Alexandre Ferreira Dos Santo Gaspar	30.09.2022	Christchurch	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	45	Brendan Allen
	William James Louttit	18.12.2024	Bournemouth	Ringwood	2.00pm	72	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 18 March 2025	Nigel Lambert Dowsett	27.08.2024	Dorchester	Portland	10.00am	66	Debbie Rookes
	Joao Paulo Silva Pita	22.06.2024	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	30	Brendan Allen
	Heather Irene Rubery	16.10.2024	Yeovil	Sherborne	11.00am	92	Brendan Allen
	Alan Eric Owen	06.12.2024	Southampton	Bridport	12.00pm	55	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 19 March 2025	Caroline Cooper	04.06.2024	Bournemouth	Christchurch	10.00am	80	Debbie Rookes
Thursday 20 March 2025	Robert Appleton	03.06.2023	Portland	Weymouth	10.00am	69	Richard Middleton
	Matthew John Scammell	17.06.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	2.00pm	45	Richard Middleton
			Treasure	Inquests
	Medieval Silver Seal Matrix	16.04.2022	Found Tarrant Crawford	T503	2.00pm		Brendan Allen
	Complete Silver Finger Ring with Cormelian Intaglio	26.11.2017	Askerswell	T395	2.00pm		Brendan Allen
	Bronze Age Cu Alloy Torc and Bracelet Fragment	18.11.2023	Charlton Marshall	T104	2.00pm		Brendan Allen
Friday 21 March 2025	Heidi Dominiqua Sheehan	18.11.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	49	Richard Middleton
	Hazel Caroline Andrews	02.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	92	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.