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.

This information is only about our local Coroner, you can find out more about the role of a Coroner.

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, Mr Grant Davies, 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 29 July 2024

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 29 July 2024
Tuesday 30 July 2024
Wednesday 31 July 2024
Thursday 01 August 2024
Friday 02 August 2024

Inquests to be held week commencing 29 July 2024 to Friday 09 August 2024

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 29 July 2024	David John Ball	27.12.2023	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	57	Brendan Allen
	Joanna Mary Martin	17.11.2023	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	56	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 30 July 2024	Gordon James Dunn	31.03.2022	Dorchester	Portland	10.00am	92	Rachael Griffin
	Leonard Cardoso - Machado	16.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am (PIR)	17	Brendan Allen
	Gerald Peter Cecil Dixon	28.03.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	93	Richard Middleton
	Pamela Maureen A'Beckett	02.01.2024	Bournemouth	Christchurch	2.00pm	78	Brendan Allen
	Juliana Josepha Taylor	21.04.24	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	73	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 31 July 2024	Gordon James Dunn	31.03.2022	Dorchester	Portland	10.00am	92	Rachael Griffin
	Nano Alexandre Ferreira Dos Santos Gasper	30.09.2022	Christchurch	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	45	Brendan Allen
	Robert Bruce Stephens	28.05.2021	Portland	Portland	11.00am (PIR)	83	Brendan Allen
	Evelyn Prudence Larcombe	01.06.2024	Dorchester	Lyme Regis	2.00pm	90	Brendan Allen
Thursday 1 August 2024	Leslie Ronald Russell	03.03.2024	Bournemouth	Wimborne	10.00am	92	Brendan Allen
	Christian Jeans Boggs	22.02.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	34	Richard Middleton
	Pauline Ann Williams	12.05.2024	Dorchester	Weymouth	2.00pm	77	Richard Middleton
Friday 02 August 2024	Louis Gerard Burden	10.01.2024	Poole	Poole	10.00am	22	Richard Middleton
Monday 05 August 2024	Eileen Edith Symes	08.01.2024	Southampton	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	92	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 06 August 2024
Wednesday 07 August 2024	Valerie Warry	17.03.2024	Christchurch	Bournemouth	10.00am	67	Brendan Allen
Thursday 08 August 2024	Patricia Lavinia Waters	28.12.2023	Christchurch	Bournemouth	10.00am	84	Deborah Rookes
	Luke Humphrey Peter Turner	11.12.2022	Scotland	Scotland	10.00am	38	Richard Middleton
	Joan Fitzgerald	16.12.2023	Gillingham	Gillingham	2.00pm	59	Deborah Rookes
	Gregory Christopher Love	03.01.2024	Ferndown	Ferndown	2.00pm (PIR)	31	Richard Middleton
Friday 09 August 2024	Walter Ratcliffe	22.05.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	90	Richard Middleton
	Robert Frank Turner	06.01.2024	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	76	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.