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Bodies left unburied
A UK court heard that Hull funeral director Robert Bush, owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, breached families’ trust on an “almost industrial scale” by leaving bodies unburied and “rotting away”.
The BBC said police found “Some 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes” during a March 2024 raid on the Hessle Road premises in Hull.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told Hull Crown Court that bodies were discovered “on the racks” of a cold storage area and that one was found on a stretcher on the floor.
The BBC reported that the vast majority were “uncovered and in varying states of decomposition”, including one of a stillborn baby, and that Bush, 48, had previously admitted 67 offences.
Wrong ashes, court tears
Family members watching the five-day sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court gasped and were in tears as prosecutors described the “horror scene” at the parlour.
The BBC reported that Bush told officers his daughter was “unaware” of what had happened and said, “I have deceived everyone”.
The Irish News said Rea Burton told the court that when she attended Legacy to collect her grandfather David Burton’s ashes, Bush said he would go and “dig him out” and then appeared with a bag after rustling in the background.
The Irish News also quoted Burton’s account that Bush responded that putting ashes into necklace charms was “a brilliant idea”, while she said: “In reality, Rob had deceived us. He had abandoned and hidden our loved one for months and had given us a stranger’s ashes with a smile on his face.”
Charities and sentencing
The BBC said Bush previously admitted 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial and theft from 12 charities, and it said hundreds of victim impact statements were expected to be read over the course of the week.
The Irish News reported that over 12 years Bush breached the trust placed in him by grieving families “on an almost industrial scale” by keeping bodies for months after they should have been cremated, giving out wrong ashes, and taking money for funeral plans without making arrangements.
The York Press said the scale of the offending was discovered by chance when Bush was in Arizona and contacted Gary Pickering and Steve Emmerson, directors of Evergreen Funeral Directors, asking them to assist with a body recovery while he was away.
The York Press further reported that Patrick Moore, a casual worker for Legacy, told the court Bush had said “not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body into the fridge area”, and that Moore counted up to 29 bodies, describing it as something from a “horror scene.”
