Mothers who lost babies before 24 weeks have spoken of their anguish after discovering funeral director Robert Bush gave them animal ashes, stranger's remains, or, in some cases, never cremated their babies at all.
The grieving women have united in a campaign to change the law after Bush was sentenced this week, saying parents whose babies die before 24 weeks are being failed by the justice system. Several told how they still do not know what happened to their babies' remains and fear they may have been thrown away.
The women say they were left feeling "hurt" and "insulted" after learning the offences involving their babies were prosecuted as fraud because the law does not recognise babies who die before 24 weeks in the same way as those born later.
'I was given animal ashes'
Lucy Ness, 28, said she was devastated to learn the ashes she had treasured for years did not belong to her baby. Police recently told her an expert examination found the remains were from an animal.
Lucy said: "I found out this morning that I will never know what happened to my baby's ashes. They told me when they cremate a baby they grind them with their hands but when animals are cremated there are lumps with bones. He'd handed me back animal ashes. It's sickening to think my baby may have been scattered or just tossed in the bin with no care. I'd like to know why. What did he do with my baby?"
Lucy became pregnant during the Covid pandemic in 2021 after previously being warned she might struggle to conceive because of polycystic ovaries. She suffered a miscarriage at 11 weeks and five days, shortly before her 12-week scan. After being recommended Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, she entrusted Bush with arranging a private cremation. Bush assured her: "I promise you I will take care of the baby. You can put your trust in me." Lucy collected what she believed were her baby's ashes the day after Bush told her they were ready. Years later, detectives investigating Legacy contacted her with devastating news. Police established her baby's cremation had taken place after the ashes had already been handed to her, meaning they could never have belonged to her child.
Lucy said: "A baby is a baby no matter what. The law needs to be changed to stop any other funeral director doing this. I am not the person I was before all this. It has changed me mentally massively." She has since welcomed a son, Vinnie, but says the questions surrounding her baby's remains never leave her.
'All I can think is he put my baby in the bin'
Katie Woolston, 28, fears one of her miscarried babies was never cremated at all. Bush cremated one of her babies, but police found no evidence the second had ever been cremated. Katie, who has since had a daughter called Betsy, said she constantly asks herself one question: "Where did you put my baby? It makes you feel like it wasn't a baby. It was going to be the start of life. The charges Robert Bush faced were basically like he'd stolen my purse or phone from me. There's no evidence he ever cremated my baby at all. To me all I can think about is he's put it in the bin."
Katie said the ashes she believed belonged to one of her babies had provided comfort for years before the truth emerged. She added: "I thought at least they were in someone else's house being loved. It actually broke my heart. I think about it all the time but I'm never going to know. It is torturous."
'Bush had my son longer than I did'
Jasmine Beverley, 40, miscarried her son Sunny Beverley-Conlin just before her 20-week scan in 2022. Having previously trusted Bush to arrange her father's funeral, she again turned to Legacy. The family received ashes and held a funeral service believing they were saying goodbye to Sunny. Two years later police told them the ashes were not his. Instead, officers found Sunny's body still inside the funeral home, stored in a brown paper bag on the floor of a cooler.
Jasmine said: "It was shocking. He had Sunny for two years and I had him for two days." She described the moment police informed her as reliving the loss all over again. "I couldn't believe a man I trusted with the most precious person in my life could do that," she said. "It doesn't help my grief and it doesn't help people in the future. I just want to see the law changed so babies before 24 weeks are treated with the same dignity and respect as babies born after 24 weeks. It's treating our loss like it was a stolen credit card." Jasmine eventually buried Sunny alongside her grandmother after his body was recovered. She said having a permanent resting place had brought some comfort.
'We made jewellery from a stranger's ashes'
Stacey Foster, 28, discovered she had lost her baby Tommy during a private gender scan at 17 weeks. After choosing Legacy to arrange his cremation, she and partner Peter waited weeks before Bush handed over ashes in a cardboard box. Believing they were Tommy's remains, the couple had memorial jewellery made. Later, police told them Tommy's ashes had actually been found at the crematorium and Bush had given them somebody else's remains.
Stacey said: "We had jewellery made with a stranger's ashes. It turned out Tommy had been cremated that morning, so he gave us someone else's for the fun of it. There's no other reason. He's the scum of the earth." The jewellery has since been donated to memorial gardens for victims. Stacey, who now has two daughters, said: "Technically, in the eyes of the law, my baby never existed. That's dreadful. You can't imagine this happening."
Campaign to change the law
The four mothers are now calling for legal reform so babies who die before 24 weeks receive the same legal protections after death as those born later. They say no grieving parent should endure further trauma because of gaps in the law. Bush was prosecuted using fraud offences after investigators found the existing legislation did not adequately cover the treatment of babies who died before 24 weeks.
