A ‘callous’ funeral director stared impassively ahead as tearful families told a court how he abandoned their loved ones’ bodies for months and “gave them a stranger’s ashes with a smile on his face”.
As a five-day sentencing hearing got under way on Monday, a judge heard how the horrors at Hull-based Legacy Independent Funeral Directors included bodies left to rot on racks and an unborn baby in a paper bag.
Families betrayed
Some of the hundreds of victims started to read their statements, with the court being told of families who had jewellery made out of their loved ones’ ashes, only to find out they were carrying a stranger around, and a grandfather who had been moved out of his personalised coffin into a cardboard box.
Hull Crown Court heard 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 the wrong ashes, taking money for funeral plans without making any of the arrangements and stealing charity donations collected at services.
Rea Burton, whose grandfather David Burton’s body was recovered from Legacy four months after his death, said that when she attended the funeral home to collect his ashes, Bush said he would go and “dig him out” and, after a lot of rustling in the background, he appeared with a bag.
After being told by Ms Burton that the family were having the ashes put into necklace charms and her uncle was going to have some put into ink for a tattoo, Bush responded that it was “a brilliant idea”.
Ms Burton said: “We had mistakenly placed our trust in Rob. He did not treat grandad with the dignity and respect he deserved. “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.”
Bodies mistreated
Byron Lill’s mother, Muriel Winning’s body was dressed in her wedding dress, as she wanted to be ready “to meet her husband again”. Mr Lill said: “(My wife) Helen and I carried out her wishes and ensured she was dressed as she wanted…All this care was lost on Robert Bush.”
Shirley Wright, whose body was recovered from Legacy five months after her death, was found with a photograph of dogs. Her daughter Jayne Rimmington said: “This both shocked and upset me. Mum didn’t have any dogs, she didn’t even like them and we had not left any photographs with her. “Not only had someone else’s property been placed with mum, which felt a violation in itself, but another family had given Bush this photograph to be with their loved one and they were left without it.”
John Banyard, whose close friend John Carlill was found at Legacy, said: “If you can’t trust a funeral undertaker, who can you trust? “How can someone be so callous, cold and calculated?”
Discovery by chance
The court heard that Bush’s crimes were discovered by chance, when he was on holiday in Arizona and contacted Gary Pickering and Steve Emmerson, directors of Evergreen Funeral Directors, asking them to assist with a body recovery whilst he was away.
Patrick Moore – a casual worker for Legacy – helped the two men collect the body from the care home, but said Bush had told him “not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body into the fridge area”. The court heard Mr Moore then told the men: “You two don’t know the half of it, bodies have been there for years.” After becoming suspicious, Mr Emmerson telephoned Mr Moore and asked how many bodies were there. Mr Moore counted up to 29 bodies, describing it as being something from a “horror scene”.
The court heard Mr Emmerson and Mr Pickering persuaded Mr Moore to let them into Legacy’s site on Hessle Road, despite him initially being afraid of “repercussions”. The two men were “shocked” at what they saw at Legacy and flagged down a passing police car to report it.
Unborn baby and financial crimes
Mr Paxton said that when police attended, they found bodies stored on the racks of a cold storage area, with the vast majority “uncovered and in varying states of decomposition”. The funeral home was “dirty and unkempt” and there were items including flowers, rings, teddies and cards on the floor, which “loved ones would have wanted to stay with their deceased family members”. During the search, a police officer found a brown paper bag containing a “tiny item” which he initially thought was a baby bird, but had two hospital wristbands wrapped around the waist with the words, ‘Baby of Jasmine Beverley, born on 13/05/22 at 05:04’.
The court heard that between March 2017 and April 2024, more than £3 million was paid into his business and personal accounts but the turnover reported to HMRC in these years does not reflect this. During this time, Bush’s “profligate personal spending and transfers to his wife, Vikki Bush, account for £879,655.94”, Mr Paxton said. He told the court: “The financial situation within the business was not dire, but likely mismanaged, and the expenditure reflected Mr Bush’s priorities and not those whom he was meant to be serving. “For all of Mr Bush’s claims about his finances, it should be borne in mind that the cost of a single cremation was around £500, and yet Mr Bush chose not to deal with those bodies entrusted to him but to operate as he chose and spend the money on himself and others.”
