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 26 October 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 26 October 2026	Colin Thomas Lewis	13.10.2026	Alderholt	Alderholt	76	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Michael Luke Fox	02.09.2026	Weymouth	Gillingham	37	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 27 October 2026	David Roger Price	27.08.2026	Dorchester	Portland	49	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	David Bowen	04.09.2026	Charmouth	Lyme Regis	92	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Christopher Dean Redmond	17.09.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	36	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	William James Stone	07.09.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	77	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 28 October 2026
Thursday 29 October 2026
Friday 30 October 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 26 October 2026 to Friday 06 November 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 26 October 2026	Laionie Kennard	16.09.2023	Ringwood	Verwood	18	09.30am	Brendan Allen
	Lionel George Hake	02.05.2026	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	83	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Mark Justin Adams	29.06.2026	Shaftesbury	Polton-Le-Fylde	59	11.30am	Brendan Allen
	John Roger Stirling Begg	24.07.2026	Bournemouth	Highcliffe	75	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Nicholas Edward Warren	02.07.2026	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	77	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Susan Elizabeth Devaney	27.07.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	69	3.00pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 27 October 2026	Peter William Roger Kerslake	03.08.2026	Dorchester	Dorchester	74	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Lesley Marion Stobart	07.08.2026	Dorchester	Bridport	93	11.30am	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 28 October 2026
Thursday 29 October 2026	Gerald Martin Lucas	25.02.2025	Kundasang Sabah	Bournemouth	76	10.00am	Brendan Allen
Friday 30 October 2026	David Michael Buck	08.07.2026	Southbourne	Southbourne	78	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Shane Phillip Russell	23.05.2026	Sherborne	Staplegrove	48	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Peter Walter Alfred King	03.07.2026	Christchurch	Christchurch	83	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 02 November 2026	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Phyllis Joy Nappin	24.10.2025	Poole	Poole	93	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 03 November 2026	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Phyllis Joy Nappin	24.10.2025	Poole	Poole	93	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 04 November 2026	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	10.00am	Brendan Allen
Thursday 05 November 2026	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	June Ynhi Phan	07.05.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	21	11.00am (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Albert Wade Ward	09.03.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	88	2.00pm (PIR)	Richard Middleton
Friday 06 November 2026	Blossom Louise Benstead-Wright	14.08.2024	Poole	Bournemouth	2 days	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Moira Felicity Acardi	03.07.2026	Blandford	Blandford	72	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Marina Elizabeth Heron	24.07.2026	Swanage	Swanage	72	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Mark William Hoskins	27.07.2026	Gillingham	Gillingham	57	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.