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 29 September 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 29 September 2025	John Anthony Bishop	19.09.2025	Poole	Swanage	1.30pm	78	Brendan Allen
	Lee Michael Brian Jeans	08.09.2025	Bournemouth	Wimborne	1.30pm	54	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 30 September 2025	Robert Wickens	17.09.2025	Bournemouth	Poole	1.30pm	85	Brendan Allen
	Margaret Harris	26.08.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	1.30pm	88	Brendan Allen
	Stephen John Taylor	17.07.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	68	Brendan Allen
	Philip Charles Schebesta	21.09.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	1.30pm	73	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 01 October 2025
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 03 October 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 29 September to Friday 09 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 29 September 2025	Frederick Paul Thomas	25.04.2025	Poole	Poole	10.00am	71	Brendan Allen
	Dennis Geoffrey Owen	26.06.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	2.00pm	67	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 30 September 2025	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 01 October 2025	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
Thursday 02 October 2025	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
	Mahmood Abdulqader Abdulkarim	17.03.2025	Trent	No Fixed Abode	10.00am	24	Brendan Allen
	Roland Michael Hargreave	25.06.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemnouth	2.00pm	79	Brendan Allen
Friday 03 October 2025
Monday 06 October 2025	Leaonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
	Thakshala Dinujaya Nirman Udumalagala Gamage	16.03.2025	Southampton	Bournemouth	10.00am	18	Brendan Allen
	Ivor William Goodman	01.03.2025	Corfe Mullen	Corfe Mullen	2.00pm	63	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 07 October 2025	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
	Amber Grace Walker	19.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	22	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 08 October 2025	Leonard Farruku	12.12.2023	Portland	Portland	10.00am	27	Rachael Griffin
	Sarah Elizabeth Cameron	12.07.2024	Crete	Bournemouth	10.00am (PIR)	46	Brendan Allen
Thursday 09 October 2025	Joseph Varty	06.04.2025	Poole	Wimborne	10.00am	77	Brendan Allen
	Paul Logan	15.05.2025	Swanage	Eastbourne	2.00pm	55	Brendan Allen
	Dean Fingal McCormack	06.06.2024	Compton Abbas	Warminster	3.00pm	62	Rachael Griffin
Friday 10 October 2025

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.