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 18 August 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 18 August 2025	Abbeygail Kimberley Bastick	16.01.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	1.30pm	37	Rachael Griffin
	David Rose	04.08.2025	Sherborne	Sherborne	1.30pm	84	Rachael Griffin
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Wednesday 20 August 2025
Thursday 21 August 2025
Friday 22 August 2025

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 18 August to Friday 29 August 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 18 August 2025	Freida Pilfold	15.06.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	86	Brendan Allen
	David Alexander Ashley	16.03.2022	Italy	Poole	12.00pm (PIR)	49	Rachael Griffin
	James William Wellman	31.10.2024	Weymouth	Weymouth	2.00pm	45	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 19 August 2025	Susan Ann Gardner	22.11.2024	Poole	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	66	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 20 August 2025	Marcus Van Der Westhuisen	03.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	29	Debbie Rookes
	John James Francis Woodford	13.06.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	87	Brendan Allen
	William Benjamin Ingram	03.01.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	64	Brendan Allen
Thursday 21 August 2025	Ethan Downes-Smith	17.05.2021	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	1 month	Rachael Griffin
	Oliver Alan Gregory	06.01.2025	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	36	Debbie Rookes
Friday 22 August 2025	Ischia Montagu-LaPlaca	16.02.2024	Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	11.00am (PIR)	16	Rachael Griffin
Monday 25 August 2025			BANK	HOLIDAY
Tuesday 26 August 2025	Frances Jean Brummitt	17.02.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	10.00am	96	Brendan Allen
	Robert John Metcalfe	25.07.2023	Poole	Bournemouth	11.00am (PIR)	66	Rachael Griffin
	Jeffrey Quick	19.12.2024	Portland	Portland	12.00pm (PIR)	77	Rachael Griffin
Wednesday 27 August 2025	Imdad Hussain Butt	16.10.2024	Poole	Poole	10.00am	84	Richard Middleton
Thursday 28 August 2025	Lucy Jean Collis	09.10.2023	Poole	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	27	Rachael Griffin
	Lawrence Ambrose English	15.04.2024	Dorchester	Sherborne	2.00pm (PIR)	68	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Leslie Trent	12.01.2025	Blandford Forum	Blandford Forum	2.00pm	68	Richard Middleton
Friday 29 August 2025	Dennis Victor Foster	23.01.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	93	Richard Middleton
	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	11.00am (PIR)	44	Rachael Griffin
	Terence John Griffiths	27.03.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	11.30am	74	Richard Middleton
	Anthony Paul Jacob	19.12.2024	Southampton	Weymouth	2.00pm (PIR)	75	Rachael Griffin
	Amy Jane Dixon	05.04.2024	Poole	Poole	2.00pm	31	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.