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 05 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 05 October 2026	Elizabeth Wells	23.09.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	87	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 06 October 2026	Elliot Robert Anfield Mead	26.08.2026	Wareham	Wareham	21	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Johnathan Wayne Jeffrey Shotter	25.08.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	45	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Paul Henry Stonall	29.09.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	81	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Derek Scott	30.09.2026	Portland	Portland	55	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Michael John Carter	19.08.2026	Poole	Poole	74	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 07 October 2026
Thursday 08 October 2026	Christopher John Davies	16.04.2026	Bridport	Portland	47	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 09 October 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 05 October 2026 to Friday 16 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 05 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Michelle Julie Hetherington	13.06.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	61	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Seth Winter	06.04.2026	Bridport	Bridport	77	11.00am	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 06 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Susan Mary Blinco	20.04.2026	Bournemouth	Christchurch	65	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Alan Douglas Mills	25.06.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	75	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 07 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Stephen George Taylor	01.02.2026	Poole	Poole	53	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Elizabeth Rosemary Joy Wrench	15.04.2026	Dorchester	Crockway	77	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Piotr Buczkowski	09.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	42	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Thursday 08 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Tania Bowden	01.07.2025	Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	58	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	Rodney George Frampton	14.04.2026	Bournemouth	Wimborne	74	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	June Bottomley	13.07.2026	Poole	Christchurch	90	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Bernard William White	09.06.2026	Wareham	Wareham	79	3.00pm	Brendan Allen
Friday 09 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Benjamin Franklin Wells-Lane	03.07.2026	Bournemouth	Poole	46	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Audrey Reep	08.07.2026	Dorchester	Dorchester	93	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	William Graham Thomas	10.07.2026	Ferndown	Ferndown	78	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Patricia Lydia Flynn	22.07.2026	Bournemouth	New Milton	75	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 12 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Alexander Pereira Fresneda	10.07.2025	Bournemouth	Poole	41	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Richard Philip Alexander Banks	27.04.2026	Poole	Poole	69	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 13 October 2026	Alison Newman	08.07.2024	Dorchester	Beaminster	44	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Clare Elizabeth Yates	08.03.2026	Christchurch	Bournemouth	58	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	Colin Richard Stewart Harris	30.01.2026	Wareham	Wareham	38	2.00pm (PIR)	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 14 October 2026	Susan Barbara Godden	18.06.2026	Bournemouth	Poole	79	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Carl Simon Wilkin	31.05.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	44	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Thursday 15 October 2026	Alice O'Meara	02.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	67	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Lacey Jayne Griggs	21.07.2026	Poole	Poole	64	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Friday 16 October 2026	Laionie Kennard	16.09.2023	Ringwood	Verwood	18	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Peter Charles Overall	18.07.2026	Bournemouth	Highcliffe	90	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Arlo Steven Gibson-Hart	03.03.2025	Swanage	Swanage	1 Week	11.00am (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Judith Penelope Fuller	23.07.2026	Plymouth	Lyme Regis	86	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Richard Horace Parker	06.12.2025	Southampton	Christchurch	73	2.00pm (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Trevor Anthony Hannam	03.07.2026	Bradford Abbas	Bradford Abbas	67	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Catherine Anne Foxwell	17.06.2026	Poole	`Poole`	51	3.00pm	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.