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 April 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 April 2026
Tuesday 21 April 2026
Wednesday 22 April 2026
Thursday 23 April 2026
Friday 24 April 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 20 April 2026 to Friday 01 May 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 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Katheryn Lesley Middleton	27.07.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	67	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Shelia Gould	11.102025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	64	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Stephen Anthony Norman Doniselli	01.09.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	60	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Danny Albert Egan	18.10.2025	Poole	Poole	35	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 21 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Lee James Campbell	05.12.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	46	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Margaret Anne Head	19.01.2026	Weymouth	Portland	88	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 22 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Stephen Mark James	10.12.2025	Poole	Poole	65	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Barry Sandford Thicke	16.02.2026	Poole	Poole	83	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	John Anthony Bishop	19.09.2025	Poole	Swanage	78	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Thursday 23 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Damien Alexander Main	22.11.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	46	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Michelle Elizabeth Pollard	26.08.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	58	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 24 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Christopher Pickford	09.01.2026	Swanage	Swanage	63	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Evelyne Margaret Harrison	19.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	98	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Nicola Jane Hindmarch	29.11.2025	Gillingham	Gillingham	44	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Raymond Edward Hyde	25.01.2026	New Milton	New Milton	82	3.00pm
Monday 27 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Shaun Gilbert Maxwell Vallance	04.02.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	68	10.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Edward George Coulter	29.09.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	78	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 28 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Josie-Mai Jeff	13.12.2024	Southampton	Bridport	6 months	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Melanie Jane Clark	17.07.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	55	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Robert Crandon Phillips	23.08.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	59	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 29 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Phyllis Joy Nappin	24.10.2025	Poole	Poole	93	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	Emma Louise Turnbull	06.12.2025	Southampton	Dorchester	49	11.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
Thursday 30 April 2026	George Edward James Haldenby	29.01.2022	Dorchester	Portland	56	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Ben Atkinson	07.11.2025	Wimborne	Wimborne	45	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Mary Ann Howells	30.06.2023	Sailsbury	Bournemouth	77	11.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Terry Jay Bond	08.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	47	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 01 May 2026	Dorothy Eddy	07.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	89	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	David Martin Joseph Hayes	27.01.2026	Pokesdown	Bournemouth	51	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Charles Tawiah	23.12.2025	Christchurch	No Fixed Abode	53	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Michael Jeffries Jones	29.01.2026	Bournemouth	New Milton	89	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Andrzej Stanislaw Gasowski	19.02.2026	Poole	Poole	32	3.00pm	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.