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.

The information on this page is only about our local Coroner, you can find out more about the role of a Coroner here.

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 20 July 2026

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

Date	Deceased	Date of Death	Place of Death	Place of Residence	Age	Time of Hearing	Coroner
Monday 20 July 2026	Blayze Tyler Martin	09.07.2026	Southampton	Piddlehinton	17	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	James Charles Johnson	12.07.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	45	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Mark Antony Preville	02.07.2026	Poole	Poole	49	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 21 July 2026	Anthony James Edward Lowe	01.06.2026	Poole	Poole	78	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Alisa Jennings	13.07.2026	Poole	Poole	29	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Nathan Raymond Bown	24.06.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	47	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Fiona McLean Scott	15.07.2026	Wimborne	Wimborne	70	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	James Edward Curtis	11.07.2026	Blandford Forum	Blandford Forum	70	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Krystal May Mears	19.06.2026	Southbourne	Poole	26	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 22 July 2026	Mercedes Siobhan Tilt	23.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	59	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Finlay Alexander Johnson	16.07.2026	Poole	Pool	59	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Thursday 23 July 2026
Friday 24 July 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 20 July 2026 to Friday 31 July 2026

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

Date	Deceased	Date of Death	Place of Death	Place of Residence	Age	Time of Hearing	Coroner
Monday 20 July 2026	Kester Stuart North	19.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	54	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 21 July 2026	Albert Charles Watkins	16.02.2026	Bournemouth	Dorchester	31	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Fiona Elizabeth Petrie	09.03.2026	Bridport	Bridport	73	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Joan Marian Altree	25.03.2026	Dorchester	Sherborne	93	11.30am	Brendan Allen
	Daniel Nathan Jenneson	01.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	48	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Charles Robert Snelling	16.02.2026	Poole	Christchurch	84	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 22 July 2026	Gerald Patrick McGurk	29.01.2026	Poole	Poole	83	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Russell Elliott Saunders	21.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	68	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Thursday 23 July 2026	Sebastian Charles Booth	20.02.2026	Southampton	Poole	38	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Susan Jacqueline Snowdon	24.03.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	72	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Rebekah Fisher	23.02.2026	Christchurch	Christchurch	60	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Beryl Young	24.04.2026	Poole	Bournemouth	92	3.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 24 July 2026	Kenneth Edward Brough	21.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	61	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Frederick Malcolm Hewitt	01.02.2026	Poole	Poole	88	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 27 July 2026	Mark Jackson	26.03.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	70	10.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Daniel Vincent Edward Huffman	19.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	43	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 28 July 2026	Robert William Anderson	21.05.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	42	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Robin Linford Wilks	07.04.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	93	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Saffron Hannah McDermott	30.03.2026	Dorchester	Dorchester	32	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 29 July 2026	Claire Emma Rodway	02.10.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	52	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Reginald John Robinson	07.04.2026	Portland	Portland	83	11.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Nancy Winifred Lee	18.02.2026	Poole	Wimborne	91	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Thursday30 July 2026	Brian Massey Williamson	11.04.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	89	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Dudley Edward Cannell	22.04.2026	Poole	Poole	86	11.30am	Richard Middleton
	Samuel Joseph Thomas Robinson	02.08.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	29	2.00pm (PIR)	Brendan Allen
Friday 31 July 2026

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.