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 16 March 2026

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 16 March 2026	John Ronald Dennys	03.03.2026	Southampton	Shaftesbury	1.30om	83	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 17 March 2026
Wednesday 18 March 2026
Thursday 19 March 2026
Friday 20 March 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 16 March 2026 to Friday 27 March 2026

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 16 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2024	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Benziah Handsome Johnnyray Best Smart	19.12.24	Poole	Wareham	10.00am	3 months	Brendan Allen
	Mark John Scott Sturman	15.09.2025	Poole	Poole	10.00am	50	Richard Middleton
	Honor Fennelly	13.07.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	2.00pm	35	Brendan Allen
	Alan Walter Cuff	09.12.2025	Gillingham	Gillingham	2.00pm	69	Richard Middleton
	Stephen  John Bowker	07.11.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	3.00pm	54	Richard Middleton
Tuesday 17 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2024	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Sarah Elizabeth Cameron	12.07.2024	Crete	Bournemouth	10.00am	46	Brendan Allen
	Patricia Lilly Innes Parker	21.09.2025	Blandford	Blandford	10.00am	88	Richard Middleton
	Jean Betty Parks	30.01.2026	Dorchester	Sturminster Newton	11.00am	89	Richard Middleton
	David John Picton	28.08.2025	Weymouth	Weymouth	2.00pm	70	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 18 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2024	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Mark Stephen Obertelli	26.09.2025	Poole	Poole	10.00am	72	Richard Middleton
Thursday 19 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2024	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Richard Edward John Bentley	24.03.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	55	Brendan Allen
	Ali Hooshiyar	23.09.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	79	Richard Middleton
	Richard John Chorley	12.10.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	79	Richard Middleton
Friday 20 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Robert Jerome Stone	14.12.2025	Dorchester	Dorchester	10.00am	87	Richard Middleton
	Agnes Doreen D'Arcy	18.06.2025	Poole	Poole	11.00am (PIR)	91	Richard Middleton
	Kelly -Ann Campbell	03.11.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	2.00pm	44	Richard Middleton
	Kerry-Anne Treacy	28.10.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	3.00pm	38	Richard Middleton
Monday 23 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Michael Thomas lynch	27.08.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	61	Brendan Allen
	Keith Francis Lawson	08.05.2025	Poole	Bournemouth	10.00am	77	Richard Middleton
	Emma Louise Turnbull	06.12.2025	Southampton	Dorchester	2.00pm (P.I.R)	49
Tuesday 24 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Gerald Martin Lucas	25.02.2025	Kundasang	Bournemouth	10.00am (P.I.R)	76	Brendan Allen
	David John White	02.10.2025	Salisbury	Salisbury	10.00am	86	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 25 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Kenneth Harry Fairfield	20.11.2024	Ferndown	Ferndown	10.00am	94	Brendan Allen
	Mark Anthony Nash	24.10.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	26	Richard Middleton
Thursday 26 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Douglas William Kibble	15.09.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	2.00pm	81	Brendan Allen
	Llewelyn James Fletcher	11.01.2026	Poole	Swanage	3.00pm	78	Brendan Allen
Friday 27 March 2026	Oliver John Roberts	28.01.2025	Bournemouth	Fordingbridge	10.00am	29	Rachael Griffin
	Stewart Lee Woodford	22.12.25	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	10.00am	41	Richard Middleton
	Simon Adrian John	24.12.2025	Sturminster Newton	Sturminster Newton	11.00am	60	Richard Middleton
	Vanessa Danielle Saville	15.11.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	2.00pm	33	Richard Middleton
	Allan Anthony Lawrence	04.01.2026	Poole	Poole	3.00pm	50	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.