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 20 October 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 20 October 2025	Carol Ann Stone	09.10.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	80	Brendan Allen
	Richard Chorley	31.10.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	79	Brendan Allen
	Christopher Charles Fowler	12.10.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	1.30pm	86	Brendan Allen
	Gwendoline Mary Bartholomew	10.10.2025	Poole	Ferndown	1.30pm	90	Brendan Allen
	David John White	02.10.2025	Salisbury	Salisbury	1.30pm	86	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 21 October 2025
Wednesday 22 October 2025
Thursday 23 October 2025
Friday 24 October 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 20 September to Friday 31 October 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 20 October 2025	Lovell Allen Manabat	15.04.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	23	Richard Middleton
	Robert Michael Hargreave	25.06.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	12.00pm	79	Brendan Allen
	Gwendoline Mary Bartholomew	10.10.2025	Poole	Ferndown	1.30pm	90	Brendan Allen
	Louise Susan Mary Dukes	14.01.2025	Portland	Portland	2.00pm (PIR)	37	Richard Middleton
	Nicholas Andrew Bannard	17.07.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	74	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 21 October 2025	Benedict Edward Nash Solly	15.01.2024	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	28	Brendan Allen
	Mei Xian Lin	21.07.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	10.00am	52	Richard Middleton
	Melanie Cherida Alice Glynn	23.07.2025	Poole	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	51	Rachael Griffin
	William Derrick Woods	21.07.2025	Bridport	Bridport	11.30am	60	Richard Middleton
	Lewis Hawkett-Smith	31.03.2025	Bournemouth	Poole	2.00pm	29	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 22 October 2025	Flinn Sessions	09.06.2023	France	Wimborne	10.00am	22	Brendan Allen
	Linda Hesford	04.12.2024	Upton	Poole	10.30am	24	Rachael Griffin
	Robert John Perrott	02.07.2025	Yeovil	Sherborne	11.30am	91	Brendan Allen
	Gregor Grant	11.10.2023	Portugal	Bridport	2.00pm (PIR)	27	Brendan Allen
Thursday 23 October 2025	Charles Stanley Davidson	11.02.2025	Poole	Swanage	10.00am	72	Brendan Allen
	Rex Edward Lilley	06.01.2025	Bournemouth	Portland	10.00am	18	Richard Middleton
	Robert John Judge	17.07.2025	Dorchester	Pershore	2.00pm	72	Richard Middleton
	Kenneth Edwin Rendall	20.07.2025	Sherborne	Sherborne	3.00pm	82	Richard Middleton
	Lilian Hall	10.05.2025	Wimborne	Wimborne	3.30pm	93	Brendan Allen
Friday 24 October 2025	Sharon Marie Ashcroft	25.04.2025	Poole	Poole	10.00am	53	Richard Middleton
	Danny Ernest Roff	30.07.2025	Poole	Poole	11.00am	77	Richard Middleton
	Alan John Roberts	31.07.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	2.00pm	86	Richard Middleton
Monday 27 October 2025	John Spencer Jessop	21.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	58	Richard Middleton
	Sarah Elizabeth Cameron	12.07.2024	Crete	Bournemouth	2.00pm (PIR)	46	Brendan Allen
	Jane Ester Pearson	04.04.2025	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	91	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 28 October 2025	Mathew Brian McDonald	07.06.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	10.00am	40	Richard Middleton
	Margaret Rosemary Dibben	01.04.2025	Southampton	Poole	2.00pm	67	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 29 October 2025	Thakshala Dinujaya Nirman Udumalagala	16.03.2025	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	18	Brendan Allen
	Martin Timothy Hall	20.05.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	11.00am	72	Brendan Allen
	Philip Thomas Eldridge	02.08.2024	Dorchester	Portland	2.00pm	58	Brendan Allen
Thursday 30 October 2025	Paul Nicholas Lines	24.05.2025	Swanage	Bournemouth	10.00am	71	Richard Middleton
	John Hammon	01.05.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	80	Richard Middleton
	Bernard William Brazier	03.05.2025	Poole	Poole	3.00pm	80	Richard Middleton
Friday 31 October 2025	Barrington John Atfield	12.11.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	48	Richard Middleton
	Richard Charles Stacey	01.06.2025	Bournemouth	Christchurch	2.00pm	87	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.