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 03 August 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 03 August 2026	Rodney Douglas Harper	28.07.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	76	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	John Roger Sterling Begg	24.07.2026	Bournemouth	Highcliffe	75	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 04 August 2026	Keith Maidment	28.07.2026	Poole	Poole	92	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 05 August 2026	Susan Elizabeth Devaney	27.07.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	69	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Cane Taylor Dell	01.02.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	22	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Thursday 06 August 2026
Friday 07 August 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 03 August 2026 to Friday 14 August 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 03 August 2026	Christopher Launchbury	05.04.2026	Poole	Christchurch	88	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 04 August 2026	John Arthur Patrick Daley	25.05.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	95	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Matthew Nicholas Morgan	24.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	53	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	David John Thorne	03.05.2026	Southampton	Dorchester	79	3.00pm	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 05 August 2026	Nadine Kowalski	16.11.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	29	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Zebedee Bailey Watson	28.11.2025	Poole	Blandford Forum	17	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Aaron James Wall	07.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	39	3.00pm	Brendan Allen
Thursday 06 August 2026	David John Blake	11.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	77	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Alan Gammie	05.05.2026	Christchurch	Christchurch	89	11.30am	Brendan Allen
	Brian James Purcell	11.05.2026	Christchurch	Swanage	84	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Linda Joyce Drage	11.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	77	3.00pm	Brendan Allen
Friday 07 August 2026
Monday 10 August 2026	Clarissa Stopp	05.12.2024	Bridport	Bridport	78	10.00am (P.I.R)	Brendan Allen
	Peter John Williams	09.05.2026	Christchurch	Christchurch	78	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 11 August 2026
Wednesday  12 August 2026
Thursday 13 August 2026	Michael Joe Warboys	11.12.2025	Yeovil	Shaftesbury	28	11.00am (P.I.R)	Rachael Griffin
Friday 14 August 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.