Disgraced funeral director Robert Bush is expected to hear more victim impact statements on the third day of his sentencing hearing. Bush has pleaded guilty to 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial and 37 charges of fraud, fraudulent trading and theft. The sentencing hearing is scheduled over five days, concluding on Friday, with the judge anticipating more than 100 victim impact statements.
Mother confronts funeral director
Among those who have already spoken was Jasmine Beverley, whose son Sunny Beverley-Conlin was found at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road in Hull in 2024 - nearly two years after his family were given what Bush claimed were his ashes and a funeral was held. Baby Sunny's remains were discovered after police were called to the site when directors of another funeral home were asked by Bush to assist with a body recovery while he was on holiday in Arizona. Patrick Moore, a casual worker for Bush, had helped the men collect a body but said Bush told him "not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body into the fridge area."
"You two don't know the half of it, bodies have been there for years," the court heard Moore told the two men. They asked how many bodies were there, and Moore counted up to 29, describing it as something from a "horror scene." Moore was persuaded to let them inside, where they were "shocked" at what they saw and flagged down a passing police car.
Police discovery
Officers found bodies stored on racks in a cold storage area, most "uncovered and in varying states of decomposition." Among the items was a brown paper bag containing a "tiny item" initially thought to be a baby bird, but hospital wristbands around the baby's waist read: "Baby of Jasmine Beverley, born 13/05/22 at 05:04."
Jasmine addressed Bush directly in court, saying: "I trusted you with the most precious person in my life. The reality I now live with is that my baby boy Sunny has spent more time in your possession than he ever did with his own family." She added: "I have to live with the fact that my son was kept for so long without my knowledge, and that when he was eventually found he was in a brown paper bag on the floor. As a mother, that is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life."
Fighting back emotion, she told Bush: "My son Sunny was born sleeping, but he was loved long before he entered this world and he will be loved for the rest of my life. He deserved dignity. He deserved respect. He deserved to be treated with care and compassion. That is all I ever asked for. Sunny deserved better. Our family deserved better."
The sentencing is set to conclude on Friday. Bush, formerly of Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire, and now of Otley, West Yorkshire, was remanded in custody on Monday for the duration of his sentencing.
