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 30 June 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 30 June 2025
Tuesday 01 July 2025
Wednesday 02 July 2025	John Woodford	13.06.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	1.30pm	87	Rachael Griffin
	Michael James Hart	30.06.2025	Verwood	Verwood	1.30pm	54	Rachael Griffin
Thursday 03 July 2025	Roland Michael Hargreave	25.06.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	79	Rachael Griffin
	David Lawrence John Wells	20.06.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	76	Rachael Griffin
Friday 04 July 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 30 June 2025 to Friday 11 July 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 30 June 2025	Brian Raymond Parkhurst	27.02.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	92	Brendan Allen
	Anthony Derek Alden-Clift	27.02.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.30am	52	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 01 July 2025	Leslie Kenneth Powers	29.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	68	Richard Middleton
	Sidney Charles	17.01.2025	Poole	Poole	12.00pm	94	Richard Middleton
	Jairus Joshua Timothy Earl	14.04.2024	Sherborne	Balham	1.00pm	15	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 02 July 2025	Peggy Anne Sutton	30.05.2024	Bournemouth	Ferndown	10.00am	70	Richard Middleton
	David Alexander Ashley	16.03.2022	Italy	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	49	Rachael Griffin
Thursday 03 July 2025	Deidre Estelle Philpott	08.10.2024	Poole	Poole	10.00am	87	Richard Middleton
	Christopher John Stephens	15.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	11.00am (PIR)	33	Rachael Griffin
	Nancy Dodridge	18.02.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	2.00pm	88	Richard Middleton
Friday 04 July 2025	Bartlomiej Gibowicz	22.02.2025	Ferndown	Bognor Regis	10.00am	43	Richard Middleton
	Roxy Edie Paula Phillips	23.03.2023	Weymouth	Weymouth	11.00am (PIR)	15	Rachael Griffin
Monday 07 July 2025	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	12.00pm (PIR)	34	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 08 July 2025	Dean Fingal McCormack	06.06.2024	Compton Abbas	Warminster	10.00am (PIR)	62	Rachael Griffin
	Jasmin Azura Jennifer Winthrop	28.01.2025	Saint James	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	25	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 09 July 2025
Thursday 10 July 2025	Jeanna Shirley Manston	10.01.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	2.00pm	42	Richard Middleton
	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	3.00pm (PIR)	27	Rachael Griffin
	Dianne Elizabeth Archer	26.02.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	3.00pm	79	Richard Middleton
	Douglas Frank Cave	19.01.2025	Poole	Poole	4.00pm	86	Richard Middleton
Friday 11 July 2025	Pamela Joan Sells	25.11.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	93	Richard Middleton
	Joao Amantino Ferreira de Almeida	14.03.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	2.00pm	73	Richard Middleton
	Matthew Phillips	02.04.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	3.00pm	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.