A heartbroken daughter has likened the shocking scenes at Robert Bush's funeral parlour to 'bodies found in Auschwitz.' Another victim described the fraudster treating her 'lovely' father 'like a piece of meat'.
Bush, 48, is set to be sentenced for a staggering 67 offences committed over a 12-year period, affecting hundreds of victims. Hull Crown Court heard the chilling details of how he stored 31 bodies, including an unborn baby in a paper bag, at his funeral home. He then lied to their families, claiming they had been cremated and presenting them with the ashes of a stranger.
Family of Jim Porter
As the second day of the five-day sentencing hearing commenced on Tuesday, the court was told about the family of Jim Porter, 80. His body was discovered at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, still bearing his hospital identification bands on his wrists and ankle. The family noticed at his funeral that his coffin didn't seem large enough to contain him.
His daughter Tina Thames said: 'Dad told me and my brother and sister that he didn't want a fancy or expensive funeral. He just wanted us to celebrate his life. Legacy Independent Funeral Directors were a local firm and offered a reasonably priced service. It seemed a good choice for us. How wrong we were.'
She continued: 'When the police told me there was a possibility that Dad was still at Legacy, I was devastated. I had nightmares and thoughts of bodies just piled up came into my mind. The only way I can describe it is like seeing images of the bodies found in Auschwitz during the war.'
Terry White's family
The court also heard from the family of Terry White, 73, whose body was recovered from Legacy more than two months after his death on Christmas Eve 2023. His family collected ashes from Legacy, which were in a box with a Chanterlands Crematorium label. However, when Mr White's daughter Angela Scottow contacted the crematorium to ask for a plot near her sister's, staff said they had no record of him being cremated there.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Scottow said: 'Dad was such a lovely man and Robert Bush treated him like a piece of meat. I feel only anger, hatred and disgust for the man I trusted to treat my dad with dignity and respect. He knew exactly what he was doing. He stripped all dignity from our loved ones, and for what? Money? He disgusts me.'
Susan Stone's family
The grandson of Susan Stone, 77, whose body was also found at Legacy, revealed that his grandfather was 'destroyed' by the discovery, while his father fell into depression and drug use. Callum Stone stated that Eric, Mrs Stone's husband of many years, was 'not the same man', until his death in May this year. He also described how his father 'fell into a pit of depression following the news at Legacy and relapsed back into drug use'.
He added: 'I've learned not to blame myself for the choice of funeral director for my nana but I have taken from it that the cheaper option isn't always the best and to make sure that I get all of the documentation prior to committing to any contracts.'
Bush's offences
Hull Crown Court was told that over a 12-year period, Bush violated the trust of grieving families 'on an almost industrial scale', by retaining bodies for months longer than they should have been cremated, distributing incorrect ashes, accepting money for funeral plans without making any arrangements and pilfering charity donations collected at services.
In April, Bush admitted to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and theft from 12 charities including the Salvation Army and Macmillan Cancer Support. He had already admitted to 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to bodies discovered at the site, and four 'foetus allegations' of fraud, where he presented ashes to women falsely claiming that they were 'the remains of their unborn'. Bush also pleaded guilty to an additional charge of fraud, covering the ashes of 57 people between 2017 and 2024, and one of fraudulent trading relating to funeral plans between 2012 and 2024.
