Funeral director Robert Bush is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court for more than 65 offences which took place over 12 years with hundreds of victims and their grieving families impacted
Funeral director Robert Bush, who gave grieving families the wrong ashes while their loved ones remains lay decomposing, will hear first-hand of the anguish he caused today as his sentencing hearing for more than 65 offences gets under way.
On his way into court he replied “I’m sorry” when he was asked if he’d a message for the families. Bush pleaded guilty to 67 offences spanning the course of 12 years, with hundreds of victims and their families impacted. The 48-year-old gave grieving families the wrong ashes while their loved ones’ bodies were left at his site for months. Impact statements from some of those whose loved ones Bush disrespected will be read to court.
Bush was finally brought to justice after police were contacted by someone with access to the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors site in March 2024, expressing concerns over “care of the deceased” at the Hull business.
When police searched the premises they found 31 bodies that should have been cremated months earlier, including a stillborn baby that had been there for almost two years. They also found more than 100 sets of ashes, some with name labels and letters attached to the box.
Police found that many families of the deceased found at Legacy had already been given ashes by Bush, revealing widespread practice giving grieving relatives the wrong ashes. Investigators also learned that Bush had committed fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans, where he would take payment for the plans but not pass any of the money on to the financial institutions who would hold it for when the funeral was required.
He also stole from charities by failing to pass on donations collected at funerals. In April, Bush pleaded guilty to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and theft from 12 charities including the Salvation Army and Macmillan Cancer Support. Bereaved families who were victims of Legacy Funeral Serviced attended Hull crown court today for the start of a five day hearing.
It is believed the Judge will hear up to 200 victim impact statements. Campaigner Karen Dry, 57, who entrusted both her parents’ remains to Bush, said: “I feel apprehensive but am praying for justice and a very long sentence. I’m nervous.
“It actually makes me really cross that he hasn’t been held on remand. They let him walk out of court a free man after he admitted these sheer evil acts. This has devastated families and the funeral industry at large.”
Bush says ‘I’m sorry’ as he arrives at court
Bereaved families stood alongside Bush in the court’s entrance foyer. Several stared at the shamed funeral director, who was flanked by two police officers, while others burst into tears. One said to him: “I hope you get tortured in jail like you tortured my grandad.”
They stood glaring at Bush as he arrived carrying a large black back, with one commenting ‘silence is golden’. Bush twisted his hands nervously as he waited, having removed the black face mask he’d used to cover up as he walked to the entrance.
He was confronted by journalists as he arrived at court this morning. He was asked if he was sorry and whether that was his messages to the families, to which he replied: “Yes, I’m sorry.”
He had already admitted 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to bodies found at the site, and four “foetus allegations” of fraud, where he presented ashes to women falsely saying that they were “the remains of their unborn”. Bush also pleaded guilty to a further charge of fraud, covering the ashes of 57 people between 2017 and 2024, and one of the fraudulent trading relations to funeral plans between 2012 and 2024.
The sentencing at Hull Crown Court is listed to take place over five days, and is expected to hear from more than 100 victims. Bush, formerly of Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire, but now of Otley, West Yorkshire, is on conditional bail.
