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 15 June 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 15 June 2026	Barbara Anne Hibberd	05.06.2026	Ferndown	Ferndown	91	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 16 June 2026	Georgina Mary Gommers	02.10.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	83	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Kieran Brandon Rance	06.06.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	21	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Peter Smith	12.03.2026	Ferndown	Ferndown	57	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Matthew Brenton Hall	03.06.2026	Bere Regis	Watford	29	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 17 June 2026
Thursday 18 June 2026
Friday 19 June 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 15 June 2026 to Friday 26 June 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 15 June 2026	Christopher John Stephens	14.04.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	33	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Julee Jones	03.01.2026	Poole	Poole	60	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Damian Ziolkowski	24.05.2025	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	23	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	James Owen Jones	23.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	56	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 16 June 2026	Lance Charles De La Cour	14.04.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	50	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Darren Stuart Amor	20.01.2026	Poole	Poole	52	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	David Martin Joseph Hayes	27.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	51	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Jamie David Frater	29.12.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	52	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 17 June 2026
Thursday 18 June 2026	Margaret Patricia Hunt	30.12.2025	Poole	Christchurch	85	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Ian Christopher Woodland	05.12.2025	Bournemouth	Ferndown	55	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Norman Frank Brown	18.12.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	82	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 19 June 2026	Naeem Ahmed	21.06.2025	Poole	Wimborne	50	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Mohamed Zaid Shabeek Rahuman	19.02.2026	Poole	Poole	24	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Joseph Michael Andrews	21.02.2026	Dorchester	Dorchester	31	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Raymond Alan Dobson	21.03.2026	Dorchester	Bridport	86	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Catherine Gray	22.10.2025	Dorchester	Weymouth	49	3.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 22 June 2026	Peter Clement Yarrow	01.02.2026	Poole	Poole	93	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	James White Watters	12.02.2026	Dorchester	Dorchester	77	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 23 June 2026	Gary Luff	09.02.2026	Poole	Poole	58	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Geoffrey Michael Bryant	02.03.2026	Lyme Regis	Tewkesbury	73	2.00pm (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Peter James Oinn	06.08.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	77	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Henry Omoruyi Amag-Bama	17.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	58	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 24 June 2026	Ahmed Mahmoud Mohamed Elbasry	14.10.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	40	12.00pm (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
Thursday 25 June 2026	Jeffrey Quirk	19.12.2024	Portland	Portland	77	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Samuel Joseph Thomas Robinson	02.08.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	29	2.00pm (PIR)	Brendan Allen
Friday 26 June 2026	Jeffrey Quirk	19.12.2024	Portland	Portland	77	10.00am	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.