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 01 June 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 01 June 2026
Tuesday 02 June 2026
Wednesday 03 June 2026
Thursday 04 June 2026
Friday 05 June 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 01 June 2026 to Friday 12 June 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 01 June 2026	Daniel Lee Nutley	05.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	43	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Stephen Seymour Burt	09.06.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	71	2.00pm (PIR)	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 02 June 2026	Kevin Boyce	24.12.2025	Bournemouth	New Milton	74	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Sally Ann Wright	19.12.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	92	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 03 June 2026	Isabelle Birdie Sapherson-Moralee	26.04.2025	Wimborne	Wimborne	22	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	John William Law	14.12.2025	Swanage	Swanage	89	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Rebecca Ruth French	07.12.2025	Shapwick	Blandford Forum	51	2.00pm (PIR)	Richard Middleton
Thursday 04 June 2026	Isabelle Birdie Sapherson-Moralee	26.04.2025	Wimborne	Wimborne	22	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Colin Ernest Wyatt	10.12.2025	Highcliffe	Highcliffe	93	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	William Harry Sidney Cole	19.12.2025	Poole	Poole	78	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 05 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	15.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	11.00am (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Graham John Dalziel	13.12.2025	Blandford Forum	Blandford Forum	80	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Karel Anne Federico	30.01.2026	Poole	Poole	82	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Graham George Jackson	12.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	89	3.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 08 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	15.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Shaun Michael Isaac	23.03.2026	Poole	Poole	58	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Jacqueline Margaret Joyce	02.09.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	60	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Violet Lindley	06.01.2026	Christchurch	Bournemouth	80	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Robin Simpson	20.02.2026	Chirstchurch	Ringwood	87	3.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 09 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	14.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Pauline Victoria Swannie	28.11.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	80	21000pm	Richard Middleton
	Peter Randall	05.03.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	64	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 10 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	14.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Malcolm Terrence Squibb	06.07.2025	Poole	Poole	90	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Jet Cameron Thomas-Day	23.08.2025	Crossways	Weymouth	22	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Thursday 11 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	14.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Jonathan Nevitt	18.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	72	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Justin Peter Loveland	17.05.2025	Southampton	Dorchester	50	12.00pm (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Peter Melville	19.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	71	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	2.00pm (PIR)	Brendan Allen
Friday 12 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	14.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Antony David Beech	15.02.2026	Wareham	Bournemouth	58	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Paul Ambrose Collis	07.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	79	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	David Edward Whittaker	02.10.2025	Poole	Wimborne	87	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Jon Kenneth Hawkins	12.12.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	37	2.00pm	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.