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 14 September 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 14 September 2026	Alistair Lees	15.06.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	36	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Heather Louise Crane	04.09.2026	Poole	Bournemouth	91	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Grigory Zaets	13.08.2026	Southampton	Bournemouth	51	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Robert Frank Duce	04.09.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	77	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 15 September 2026	Jason Mark Quartley	30.06.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	53	1.30pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 16 September 2026
Thursday 17 September 2026
Friday 18 September 2026

Inquests to be held week commencing Monday 14 September 2026 to Friday 25 September 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 14 September 2026	Rosmund Jane Williams	20.02.2026	Bradford Abbas	Bradford Abbas	73	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Robert Frank Duce	04.09.2026	Dorchester	Weymouth	77	1.30pm	Brendan Allen
	Ischia Montagu-LaPlaca	16.02.2024	Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	16	2.00pm	Rachael Griffin
			Treasure	Inquest
	Silver Roman Coin	18.02.2024	Cerne Abbas	Cerne Abbas		2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 15 September 2026	Andrew William Addison	27.05.2026	Poole	Christchurch	79	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Stephen Raymond Deering Selwood	15.05.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	62	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Lionel Francis Edward Jones	27.04.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	82	2.00pm	Richard Middleton
Wednesday 16 September 2026	Nick Anthony Horlock	12.08.2025	Ferndown	Ferndown	37	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Ischia Montagu-LaPlaca	16.02.2024	Lyme Regis	Lyme Regis	16	2.00pm	Rachael Griffin
Thursday 17 September 2026	Perry Grist	11.03.2026	Poole	Merley	61	9.30am	Brendan Allen
Friday 18 September 2026	Barbara Thompson	02.04.2026	Christchurch	Ringwood	77	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Charmaine Elizabeth Barnett	25.05.2026	Dorchester	Christchurch	73	11.00am	Richard Middleton
	Emily Faye Parks	24.06.2026	Poole	Poole	37	12.00pm	Richard Middleton
Monday 21 September 2026	Belinda Jayne Stackhouse	31.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	24	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Paul Ernest Windebank	13.05.2026	Melplash	Melplash	77	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Bethany Marie Eaton	28.12.2021	Mexico	Bournemouth	27	11.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Heather Stickland	22.06.2026	Weymouth	Weymouth	98	2.00pm	Brendan Allen
Tuesday 22 September 2026	Mary Ann Howells	30.06.2023	Salisbury	Bournemouth	77	10.00am (PIR)	Brendan Allen
	Belinda Jayne Stackhouse	31.08.2024	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	24	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	John Albert Fredrick Summers	19.01.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	76	11.00am	Brendan Allen
	Samuel Joseph Thomas Robinson	02.08.2025	Dorchester	Bridport	29	3.00pm (PIR)	Brendan Allen
Wednesday 23 September 2026	Benjamin Brian Hymus	22.06.2025	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	29	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	Angel Elizabeth Mukami Karanja	17.03.2026	Poole	Poole	12	10.00am	Brendan Allen
	Ryan Kingsley Cove	27.03.2026	Christchurch	Christchurch	81	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Thursday 24 September 2026	Arlo Steven Gibson-Hart	03.03.2025	Swanage	Swanage	1 week	10.00am	Rachael Griffin
	David Alexander Crush	07.07.2026	Bournemouth	Bournemouth	66	10.00am	Richard Middleton
Friday 25 September 2026	David John Clee	20.05.2026	Poole	New Milton	81	10.00am	Richard Middleton
	Matthew Robert Luke Thomas	30.11.2024	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	42	11.00am (PIR)	Rachael Griffin
	Norman Richard Cullen	25.05.2026	Poole	Poole	90	11.00am	Richard Middeton
	Tracy Nyree Bacon	08.07.2026	Shaftesbury	Shaftesbury	50	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.