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 28 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 28 April 2025	Oliver Edmund Newman	16.02.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	88	Rachael Griffin
	Gideon Luke Booker	11.04.2025	Wimborne	Wimborne	1.30pm	3	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 29 April 2025
Wednesday 30 April 2025	Paul Edward Parham	04.02.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	1.30pm	62	Brendan Allen
	Philip Lynes	15.04.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	92	Brendan Allen
	Derren Roy McAvoy	12.03.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	35	Brendan Allen
Thursday 01 April 2025	Mark Anthony Richard King	03.03.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	40	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Robert Peach	16.04.2025	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	1.30pm	82	Rachael Griffin
	Jill Johns	21.04.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	1.30pm	86	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Derek Ford	28.02.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	68	Rachael Griffin
Friday 02 April 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 28 April 2025 to Friday 09 May 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 28 April 2025	James Robert Johnstone	02.09.2024	Wimborne	Wimborne	10.00am	51	Richard Middleton
	Jean Elsie Chilcott	23.01.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	2.00pm	84	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 29 April 2025	Frederick Hedley Williams	12.01.2024	Portland	Portland	10.00am	86	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 30 April 2025	Krzysztof Tyrakowski	18.09.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	50	Richard Middleton
	Anthony James Teale	23.09.2024	Ferndown	Ferndown	11.00am	50	Richard Middleton
	Richard Albert Felton	05.11.2024	Christchurch	Christchurch	2.00pm	62	Richard Middleton
Thursday 01 May 2025	Belinda Jayne Stackhouse	31.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	24	Richard Middleton
	Jake Entwistle	19.10.2024	Blandford Forum	Blandford Forum	10.00am	34	Brendan Allen
	Ross Martin Burns	18.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.30am	34	Brendan Allen
	John Robert Lloyd	03.10.2024	Poole	Poole	11.00am	74	Brendan Allen
	Ischia Montagu-LaPlaca	16.02.2024	Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	11.00am (PIR)	16	Rachael Griffin
	Francesca Louise Mansell	03.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	34	Richard Middleton
	Charlotte Katie Mae Avis	01.12.2022	Sherborne	Sherborne	2.00pm (PIR)	30	Rachael Griffin
Friday 02 May 2025	John Patrick McGovern	13.06.2024	Dorchester	Portland	10,00am (PIR)	58	Richard Middleton
	Rose Winifred McKillen	24.11.2024	Dorchester	Weymouth	11.30am	83	Richard Middleton
	Anthony John Worron	15.12.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	93	Richard Middleton
Monday 05 May 2025			BANK	HOLIDAY
Tuesday 06 May 2025	Michael Robert Taylor	16.09.2023	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	62	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 07 May 2025	Michael Robert Taylor	16.09.2023	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	62	Brendan Allen
Thursday 08 May 2025	Michael Robert Taylor	16.09.2023	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	62	Brendan Allen
	Murdo Macleod Mackenzie	22.10.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	74	Richard Middleton
	Peter David Bastille	11.01.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	43	Richard Middleton
	Peter Arthur Johns	18.02.2025	Poole	Poole	3.00pm	98	Richard Middleton
Friday 09 May 2025	Michael Robert Taylor	16.09.2023	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	62	Brendan Allen
	Fiona Claire Armstrong-Ward	16.09.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	48	Richard Middleton
	James Frank Huitson	11.02.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	11.30am	74	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.