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 13 July 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 13 July 2026	Nicholas Edward Warrren	02.07.2026	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	77	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Richard John Weeks	02.07.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	60	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Barbara Thompson	02.04.2026	Christchurch	Ringwood	77	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Micah Poppy Rainbow	17.05.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	34	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Moira Felicity Agardi	03.07.2026	Blandford	Blandford	72	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 14 July 2026	Benjamin Franklin Wells-Lane	03.07.2026	Bournemouth	Poole	46	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Norman Richard Cullen	25.05.2026	Poole	Poole	90	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
	Tracy Nyree Bacon	08.07.2026	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	50	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 15 July 2026	David Lee Clee	20.05.2026	Bournemouth	New Milton	81	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Thursday 16 July 2026
Friday 17 July 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 13 July 2026 to Friday 24 July 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 13 July 2026	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	34	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Dawn Valerie Shane	15.07.2024	Bournemouth	Lytchett Matravers	69	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Luke Adam Coleman	30.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	40	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 14 July 2026	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	34	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Dawn Valerie Shane	15.07.2024	Bournemouth	Lytchett Matravers	69	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Stephen Thomas Haverton Jamieson	07.12.2025	Shapwick	Wimborne	33	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	Rebecca Ruth French	07.12.2025	Shapwick	Blandford Forum	51	10.00am (PIR)	Richard Middleton
	Terence Colin Smithers	04.12.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	89	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 15 July 2026	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	34	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Dawn Valerie Shane	15.07.2024	Bournemouth	Lytchett Matravers	69	10.00am	Brendan Allen
Thursday 16 July 2026	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	34	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Dawn Valerie Shane	15.07.2024	Bournemouth	Lytchett Matravers	69	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Colin Richard Stewart Harris	30.01.2026	Wareham	Wareham	38	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 17 July 2026	Andrew James Cox	02.12.2023	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	34	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Patricia Edith Stear	14.02.2026	Poole	Wimborne	81	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Jeffrey James Pearce	11.02.2026	Chirstchurch	Christchurch	47	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Roy Francis Farrow	20.03.2026	Poole	Poole	93	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Gillian Blanche Goodright	09.08.2025	Christchurch	Christchurch	91	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 20 July 2026	Kester Stuart North	19.02.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	54	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 21 July 2026	Albert Charles Watkins	16.02.2026	Bournemouth	Dorchester	31	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Fiona Elizabeth Petrie	09.03.2026	Bridport	Bridport	73	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Daniel Nathan Jenneson	01.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	48	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
	Charles Robert Snelling	16.02.2026	Poole	Christchurch	84	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 22 July 2026	Gerald Patrick McGurk	29.01.2026	Poole	Poole	83	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Russell Elliott Saunders	21.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	68	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Thursday 23 July 2026	Sebastian Charles Booth	20.02.2026	Southampton	Poole	38	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Susan Jacqueline Snowdon	24.03.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	72	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Rebekah Fisher	23.02.2026	Chirstchurch	Christchurch	60	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
	Beryl Young	24.04.2026	Poole	Bournemouth	92	3.00pm	Richard Middleton
Friday 24 July 2026	Kenneth Edward Brough	21.12.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	61	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Frederick Malcolm Hewitt	01.02.2026	Poole	Poole	88	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.