Robert Bush, a funeral director, is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court after admitting 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial. One mother, Jasmine Beverley, discovered that her stillborn son, Sunny, had not been cremated as she believed but had been kept in an envelope on the cold room floor of the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises for almost two years.
Mother's distress
Ms Beverley told the BBC's Today programme that she had thought Sunny, born stillborn at about 18 weeks, had been given a funeral and cremated. Instead, police informed her that his remains were found inside the cold store on the floor in an envelope. She said: "It was quite a distressing time to discover that what you thought had happened, hadn't actually happened."
Evidence bag discovery
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC described how a police officer opened what looked like an evidence bag containing a white cotton pad, initially thinking a tiny item inside was a baby bird. The officer later suspected it was a human foetus. The baby had two wristbands around his waist identifying him as Ms Beverley's son, born in May 2022.
Regulation calls
Ms Beverley said Bush appeared "lovely" but "had a lot of people fooled." She noted that it has been more than 18 months since families affected by the scandal went to Westminster to call for tighter regulations in the funeral industry. She said: "I don't understand why they're dragging their heels on this, because most crematoriums and funeral directors have a best practice. We just want to see that best practice put into play in law to make sure that is regulated."
