A funeral director described as 'pure evil' by his victims had his mistreatment of remains uncovered after an offhand comment by one of his workers. Robert Bush, of Hull-based Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, left bodies to rot for months and gave grieving families ashes that did not belong to their loved ones. He now faces sentencing for 67 offences spanning 12 years, with more than 100 victim impact statements to be heard in court.
The Discovery
The court heard on Monday how Bush's crimes were uncovered in March 2024, when he travelled with his daughter to Arizona, USA, for a holiday. He had contacted Gary Pickering and Steve Emmerson, directors of Evergreen Funeral Directors, asking them to assist with a body recovery while he was away. This firm then called Patrick Moore, a casual worker for Legacy, who told them Bush had instructed him 'not to bring anyone back to Legacy nor help put a body into the fridge area'. Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told the court: 'Mr Moore believed this was due to the smells that were coming from the fridge.'
Mr Moore then made a comment 'out of the blue' to Mr Pickering and Mr Emmerson, saying: 'You don’t know the half of it, bodies have been there for years.' That 'raised suspicions that operations at Legacy were not as they should be'. They later called Mr Moore and asked how many bodies were there, and he began counting. Mr Moore counted up to 29 bodies, describing it as something from a 'horror scene'. He stated that he believed it was illegal and that many had been there since before he started working for Bush, some six to seven months previously.
The Conditions
The court heard that Mr Emmerson and Mr Pickering persuaded Mr Moore to allow them into Legacy on Hessle Road so they could see inside. Despite being initially afraid of 'repercussions', Mr Moore let them in. 'Putting it simply, they were shocked by what they saw,' said Mr Paxton. 'They instructed Mr Moore to inform the police, but then saw a passing police car, which they flagged down, and they spoke to PC Crosher. The officer described the witnesses as being shaken as they relayed the details to him.'
Three police officers then attended the premises, where they found a large number of human bodies within a cold storage area. This room had been built into one corner of the premises, with a sliding door, four fan-driven cooling units, and racking along both sides. 'There were bodies stored on the racks on both sides of the room. The vast majority were uncovered and in varying states of decomposition; there was a further naked body lying on a stretcher on the floor. In addition, there was one sealed wooden coffin and four sealed cardboard coffins.' There was evidence of human putrefaction on the floor, and a mop and bucket containing further evidence. Many bodies had hospital identity bracelets, some had biological hazard bracelets, while others had no identifiers.
Victims' Ordeal
During the search, a police officer came across a brown paper bag containing a 'tiny item'. Initially thought to be a baby bird, closer inspection revealed hospital wristbands reading 'Baby of Jasmine Beverley, born on 13/05/22 at 05:04'. This was Jasmine's son, Sunny, who was stillborn at around 18 weeks old. She had been led to believe he had been given a funeral and cremated, but his remains lay on the floor in what an officer remarked resembled an evidence bag for almost two years.
Hull Crown Court heard that over 12 years, Bush breached the trust of 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 arrangements, and stealing charity donations collected at services. 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, has been remanded in custody.
