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 23 March 2026

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 23 March 2026	Perry Grist	11.03.2026	Poole	Wimborne	1.30pm	61	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 24 March 2026	Gerald Patrick McGurk	29.01.2026	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	83	Richard Middleton
	Luke Adam Coleman	30.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	40	Richard Middleton
	Henry Omoruyl Amag-Bama	17.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	58	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 25 March 2026	Scott Andrew Sean Wild	26.01.2026	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	47	Richard Middleton
	Angel Elizabeth Mukami Karanja	17.03.2026	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	12	Richard Middleton
	Luke Edward Davis	20.03.2026	Milton-on-Stour	Warminster	1.30pm	32	Richard Middleton
	Robert Jerome Stone	12.12.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	1.30pm	87	Richard Middleton
Thursday 26 March 2026	Kenneth Edward Brough	21.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	61	Brendan Allen
	John William Law	14.12.2025	Swanage	Swanage	1.30pm	89	Brendan Allen
Friday 27 March 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 23 March 2026 to Friday 03 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	Time of Hearing	Age	Coroner
Monday 23 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Thomas lynch	27.08.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	61	Brendan Allen
	Keith Francis Lawson	08.05.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	77	Richard Middleton
	Joshua Philip Read	29.10.2025	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	53	Richard Middleton
	Lee John Foley	05.10.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	3.00pm	66	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 24 March 2026	David John White	02.10.2025	Salisbury	Salisbury	10.00am	86	Richard Middleton
	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	2.00pm	29	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 25 March 2026	Kenneth Harry Fairfield	20.11.2024	Ferndown	Ferndown	10.00am	94	Brendan Allen
	Mark Anthony Nash	24.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	26	Richard Middleton
Thursday 26 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Joan Cecilia Fox	17.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	94	Richard Middleton
	Douglas William Kibble	15.09.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	2.00pm	81	Brendan Allen
	Llewelyn James Fletcher	11.01.2026	Poole	Swanage	3.00pm	78	Brendan Allen
Friday 27 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Stewart Lee Woodford	22.12.25	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	41	Richard Middleton
	Simon Adrian John	24.12.2025	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	11.00am	60	Richard Middleton
	Stephen George Heard	30.09.2025	Bournemouth	No Fixed Abode	12.00pm	31	Richard Middleton
	Vanessa Danielle Saville	15.11.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	33	Richard Middleton
	Allan Anthony Lawrence	04.01.2026	Poole	Poole	3.00pm	50	Richard Middleton
Monday 30 March 2026	Winston Samuel Gilbert	08.01.2026	Southampton	London	10.00am	81	Richard Middleton
	Sally Ann Wright	19.12.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	11.00am	92	Richard Middleton
	Doreen Mullard	02.01.2026	Dorchester	Blandford Forum	2.00pm	92	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 31 March 2026	Claire Emma Rodway	02.10.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	10.00am	52	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 01 April 2026	Malcolm James Grimstone	03.10.2025	Wareham	Wareham	10.00am	81	Richard Middleton
	Ralph William Hampton	06.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	11.00am	84	Richard Middleton
Thursday 02 April 2026	Melanie Cherida Alice Glynn	23.07.2025	Poole	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	51	Rachael Griffin
Friday 03 April 2026		BANK	HOLIDAY

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.