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 09 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 09 June 2025	Lee Watkinson	12.03.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	1.30pm	51	Brendan Allen
	Alistair Thomas Moss	01.06.2025	Poole	Swanage	1.30pm	22	Brendan Allen
	Richard Charles Stacey	01.06.2025	Bournemouth	Christchurch	1.30pm	87	Brendan Allen
	Stephen William Clarke	08.05.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	54	Brendan Allen
	Lewis Hawkett-Smith	31.03.2025	Bournemouth	Poole	1.30pm	29	Brendan Allen
	Robert William Anderson	21.05.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	42	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 10 June 2025	Tobye Louise Spencer	11.05.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	58	Brendan Allen
	Jason Lee Bright	03.06.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	50	Brendan Allen
	Neil Cowley	04.06.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	1.30pm	77	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 11 June 2025
Thursday 12 June 2025
Friday 13 June 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 09 June 2025 to Friday 20 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 09 June 2025
Tuesday 10 June 2025	Edward Brian Moody	12.02.2024	Dorchester	Wimborne	10.00am	68	Rachael Griffin
	Christopher Luke Drury	03.01.2023	Verwood	Verwood	2.00pm	33	Brendan Allen
	Michael John Allington	28.02.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	2.30pm	76	Brendan Allen
	John Seamus Green	15.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	3.00pm	51	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 11 June 2025	Edward Brian Moody	12.02.2024	Dorchester	Wimborne	10.00am	68	Rachael Griffin
	Laionie Kennard	16.09.2023	Ringwood	Verwood	10.00am (PIR)	18	Brendan Allen
	Myles Albert Patrick Pinkett	27.04.2024	United States of America	United States of America	11.00am	28	Brendan Allen
Thursday 12 June 2025	Edward Brian Moody	12.02.2024	Dorchester	Wimborne	10.00am	68	Rachael Griffin
	Christopher Simon Zakrzewski	18.02.2022	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	45	Brendan Allen
Friday 13 June 2025	Edward Brian Moody	12.02.2024	Dorchester	Wimborne	10.00am	68	Rachael Griffin
	David Andrew Robert Turner	15.12.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	60	Richard Middleton
	Darren William Conroy	05.12.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	44	Richard Middleton
	Julie Ann Cloke	22.02.2025	Poole	Poole	3.00pm	62	Richard Middleton
Monday 16 June 2025	Benjamin Messer	23.10.2024	Poole	No Fixed Abode	10.00am	34	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 17 June 2025	John-Paul Manley	11.07.2023	Weymouth	Honiton	10.00am	40	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 18 June 2025	John-Paul Manley	11.07.2023	Weymouth	Honiton	10.00am	40	Brendan Allen
	John Kenneth Isles	20.01.2025	Bridport	Bridport	10.00am	67	Richard Middleton
	Stephen Lawrence Gardner	28.02.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	12.00pm	62	Richard Middleton
	karen McAusland	19.07.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	58	Richard Middleton
Thursday 19 June 2025	Frederick George Whittaker	13.01.2025	Bournemouth	Christchurch	10.00am	92	Richard Middleton
	John Arthur Chaffey	15.01.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	11.00am	86	Richard Middleton
	Peter William Pavey	22.12.2024	Dorchester	Weymouth	3.00pm	77	Richard Middleton
Friday 20 June 2025	Brenda Gartell	30.01.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	85	Richard Middleton
	Matthew Phillips	02.04.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	11.00am	55	Richard Middleton
	Angela McDonagh	30.09.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	46	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.