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 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 01 September 2025	Alan Douglas McCoy	10.06.2025	Portland	Portland	1.30pm	82	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Richard Stebbings	20.08.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	76	Rachael Griffin
	Christopher David Read	14.08.2025	Bournemouth	Portland	1.30pm	83	Rachael Griffin
	Phulbassiya Santokie	05.06.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	76	Rachael Griffin
	Esther Elizabeth Whatmore	05.07.2025	Poole	Poole	1.30pm	51	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 02 September 2025
Wednesday 03 September 2025	Mathew Brian McDonald	07.06.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	1.30pm	40	Richard Middleton
	Patricia Margaret Foster	24.08.25	Christchurch	Christchurch	1.30pm	92	Richard Middleton
	Chanel Azran	09.05.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	35	Richard Middleton
Thursday 04 September 2025
Friday 05 September 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 01 September to Friday 12 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 01 September 2025
Tuesday 02 September 2025	Laionie Kennard	16.09.2023	Ringwood	Verwood	10.00am (PIR)	18	Brendan Allen
	2023 T645 - Bronze Age copper alloy palstave axeheads		Treasure	Inquest	2.00pm		Rachael Griffin
	2025 T219 - Gold finger ring with glass setting		Treasure	Inquest	2.00pm		Rachael Griffin
	2024 T1380 - Silver pendant fitting		Treasure	Inquest	2.00pm		Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 03 September 2025	Beryl Lorraine Marshall	27.10.2024	Poole	Poole	10.00am	94	Brendan Allen
	Mark Anthony Richard King	03.03.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	40	Richard Middleton
Thursday 04 September 2025	Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid	06.02.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	94	Richard Middleton
	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2024	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	11.00am (PIR)	29	Rachael Griffin
	Robert Charles Denton	07.04.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	76	Richard Middleton
Friday 05 September 2025	Mark Duncan Street	27.01.2025	Poole	Sussex	10.00am (PIR)	51	Richard Middleton
	James Fitzpatrick	14.02.2024	Poole	Wimborne	11.00am (PIR)	89	Rachael Griffin
	Martin Charles Birt	07/06/2025	Poole	Poole	12.00	83	Richard Middleton
	Angela McDonagh	30.09.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	46	Richard Middleton
Monday 08 September 2025	Leonardo Cardoso-Machado	16.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	John Maurice Drake	23.10.2024	Swanage	Swanage	10.30am (PIR)	91	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 09 September 2025	Leonardo Cardoso-Machado	16.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 10 September 2025	Leonardo Cardoso-Machado	16.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
Thursday 11 September 2025	Leonardo Cardoso-Machado	16.04.2023	Poole	Poole	10.00am	17	Brendan Allen
	John Baldock	26.11.2024	Christchurch	Bournemouth	11.00am	85	Richard Middleton
	Robert Kenneth Fiander	29.06.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	94	Richard Middleton
Friday 12 September 2025	Louise Jane Butcher	12.03.2025	Dorchester	Blandford Forum	10.00am	51	Richard Middleton
	Sandra Gwendoline Marshall	21.12.2024	Dorchester	Dorchester	2.00pm	61	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.