The five-day sentencing hearing of funeral director Robert Bush has started at Hull Crown Court. Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said Bush breached the trust of grieving families “on an almost industrial scale” while spending their money on himself.
Breach of Trust Over 12 Years
Bush operated within the heart of the community for around 14 years, entrusted by hundreds of bereaved families to treat their loved ones with dignity. However, for almost 12 of those years, he breached that trust in multiple ways: selling funeral plans when not authorised, failing to bury or cremate loved ones, falsely claiming he had done so by presenting families with ashes that were not those of their loved ones, raising expectations, making false promises, and stealing cash donations intended for charities.
The court heard that the scale of his offending was discovered by chance. While Bush was in Arizona, he contacted Gary Pickering and Steve Emmerson, directors of Evergreen Funeral Directors, asking them to assist with a body recovery. Patrick Moore, a casual worker for Legacy, helped the two men collect a body from a care home but said Bush had told him “not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body into the fridge area.”
'Horror Scene' Discovery
Moore then told the men: “You two don’t know the half of it, bodies have been there for years.” After becoming suspicious, Emmerson telephoned Moore and asked how many bodies were there. Moore counted up to 29 bodies, describing it as “something from a horror scene.” Emmerson and Pickering persuaded Moore to let them into Legacy’s site on Hessle Road, despite Moore initially being afraid of “repercussions.” The two men were “shocked” at what they saw and flagged down a passing police car to report it.
