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, Mr Grant Davies, 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 15 April 2024

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 15 April  2024	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Bristol	1.30pm	34	Rachael Griffin
	Carol Richardson	28.03.2024	Dorchester	Dorchester	1.30pm	77	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 16 April 2024
Wednesday 17 April 2024
Thursday 18 April 2024
Friday 19 April 2024

Inquests to be held week commencing 15 April 2024 to Friday 26 April 2024

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 15 April 2024	Neville Stephen Abbott	08.02.2022	Poole	Poole	10.00am	77	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 16 April 2024	Neville Stephen Abbott	08.02.2022	Poole	Poole	10.00am	77	Brendan Allen
	Cameron Hamilton	05.08.2023	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	18	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 17 April 2024	Neville Stephen Abbott	08.02.2022	Poole	Poole	10.00am	77	Brendan Allen
Thursday 18 April 2024	Neville Stephen Abbott	08.02.2022	Poole	Poole	10.00am	77	Brendan Allen
	Cameron James Hemming	07.01.2024	Dorchester	Winfrith Newburgh	10.00am	83	Richard Middleton
	Clark Kerr	27.09.2023	Weymouth	Weymouth	2.00pm	55	Richard Middleton
Friday 19 April 2024	Neville Stephen Abbott	08.02.2022	Poole	Poole	10,00am	77	Brendan Allen
	Steven Robertson	27.05.2023	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	50	Richard Middleton
	David John Heritier	02.12.2023	Dorchester	Weymouth	2.00pm	79	Richard Middleton
	Graham Richard Blundell	10.09.2023	Portland	Portland	3.00pm	54	Richard Middleton
	Robert Terrance Trice	31.10.2023	Poole	Poole	4.00pm	43	Richard Middleton
Monday 22 April 2024	Linda Ann Coffer	06.02.2023	Portsmouth	Shaftesbury	10.00am	82	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 23 April 2024	James Clark Haddow	17.08.2023	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	9.00am	86	Brendan Allen
	Ingeborg kaethe Antonie Wilhelmine Carden	11.08.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	97	Brendan Allen
	Frazer Charlie Williams	07.03.2022	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	12.00pm (PIR)	28	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 24 April 2024	Frazer Charlie Williams	07.03.2022	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	10.00am	28	Rachael Griffin
	Richard Lewis Forrest	20.10.2023	Weymouth	Weymouth	10.00am	71	Brendan Allen
Thursday 25 April 2024	Frazer Charlie Williams	07.03.2022	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	10.00am	28	Rachael Griffin
	Olive Hannah Milligan	01.09.2023	Dorchester	Weymouth	10.00am	84	Brendan Allen
	Luke Humphrey Peter Turner	11.12.2023	West Lothian	West Lothian	10.00am (PIR)	38	Richard Middleton
	Jane Elizabeth Ann Cramb	02.11.2023	Poole	Christchurch	12.00pm (PIR)	56	Richard Middleton
	Roy Leadbetter	21.11.2023	Bournemouth	Christchurch	2.00pm	92	Brendan Allen
Friday 26 April 2024	Frazer Charlie Williams	07.03.2022	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	10.00am	28	Rachael Griffin
	Keira Jo-Stacey Kemp	28.11.2023	Bournemouth	Poole	10.00am	24	Richard Middleton
	Anthony Paul Humphreys	31.07.2023	Christchurch	Christchurch	2.00pm	55	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.