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 12 January 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 12 January  2026	Margaret Patricia Hunt	30.12.2025	Poole	Christchurch	1.30pm	85	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 13 January 2026
Wednesday 14 January 2026
Thursday 15 January 2026
Friday 16 January 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 12 January 2026 to Friday 23 January 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 12 January 2026	Janet Helen Sanders	08.07.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	65	Brendan Allen
	Malcolm Terrence Squibb	06.07.2025	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	90	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 13 January 2026	Gary McGinnis	10.07.2025	Poole	No Fixed Abode	10.00am	46	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 14 January 2026	Peter Howard Robinson	16.10.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	85	Brendan Allen
	Kulwant Gardner	11.10.2025	Bridport	Bridport	20.0pm	52	Brendan Allen
Thursday 15 January 2026	Brandon William Martin Rutland	21.03.2025	Portland	Portland	10.00am	74	Brendan Allen
	Tanya Annette Dodson	08.09.2025	Dorchester	Blandford Forum	10.00am  PIR	38	Richard Middleton
	Stephen John Taylor	17.07.2025	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	68	Brendan Allen
	Graham Peter Mullett	04.10.2025	Sherborne	Sherborne	2.00pm	77	Richard Middleton
	John Patrick O'Dowd	25.10.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	3.00pm	87	Richard Middleton
Friday 16 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	11.00am  PIR	89	Rachael Griffin
	Kieran John Davidson	16.10.2025	Blandford Forum	Blandford Forum	11.00am	34	Richard Middleton
	Halstein Rajinder Robert Bhatia	21.05.2024	Ukraine	London	2.00pm	22	Rachael Griffin
Monday 19 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	89	Rachael Griffin
	Alice Elizabeth Purnell	19.07.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	49	Brendan Allen
	Leslie Kenneth Powers	29.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	68	Richard Middleton
	Kulwant Gardner	11.10.2025	Bridport	Bridport	2.00pm	52	Brendan Allen
	Peter Howard Robinson	16.10.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	3.00pm	85	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 20 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	89	Rachael Griffin
	Leslie Kenneth Powers	29.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	68	Richard Middleton
	William Robert Smith	14.03.2025	Portland	Portland	10.00am  PIR	74	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 21 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	89	Rachael Griffin
	Dawn Valerie Shane	16.07.2024	Bournemouth	Poole	10.00am  PIR	69	Brendan Allen
Thursday 22 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	89	Rachael Griffin
	John Spencer Jessop	21.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	58	Richard Middleton
	Samuel Joseph Thomas Robinson	02.08.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	2.00pm  PIR	29	Brendan Allen
Friday 23 January 2026	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	89	Rachael Griffin
	Mark Antony Nash	24.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am PIR	26	Richard Middleton
	Jennifer Irene Ladd	18.10.2024	Sherborne	Yeovil	11.00am	80	Richard Middleton
	Ian Robert Brundrett	02.11.2025	Bournemouth	Ringwood	12.00pm	94	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.