A funeral director in Hull has been found guilty of defrauding grieving families after a 'horror scene' was uncovered at his funeral home, Legacy. One sergeant was left 'shocked' after finding a paper bag at the premises, only to open it and discover a foetus inside.
Discovery of Bodies
Prosecuting barrister Chris Paxton KC revealed that the sergeant initially believed the bag contained a baby bird, but realized it held a human foetus upon spotting a hospital ID band around the baby's wrist bearing the name 'Baby of Jasmine Beverley' alongside a date. Officers further uncovered a naked body left on the floor, along with other deceased individuals still wearing hospital ID bracelets on their wrists and ankles. Flowers and teddies had been swept aside and left strewn across the floor.
Robert Bush's Arrest
When Robert Bush was subsequently arrested aboard a flight returning from a holiday in Arizona, he told officers: "I f***** it all up, everything my whole world." Mr Paxton stated that Bush "breached trust on an almost industrial scale in a myriad of ways" — selling funeral plans without authorisation, failing to bury bodies, and providing families with the wrong ashes. Paxton added that Bush "raised expectations, made false promises" and stole charity donations, with his crimes having "impacted young and old alike across the community of Hull and beyond."
Scandal Uncovered
The judge was informed that the scandal came to light after two fellow funeral directors and another man, Patrick Moore, were called in to assist Bush by collecting a body from a care home during his absence in March 2024. The court was told that Mr Moore had informed the funeral directors that Bush had previously instructed him not to bring anyone back to Legacy. "He believed it was due to the smells coming from the fridge," the prosecutor stated. He also reportedly told them: "You two don't know the half of it, bodies have been there for years." He claimed to have counted up to 29 bodies, describing the scene as "something from a horror scene."
The directors were "shocked by what they saw" and flagged down a passing police car and relayed the details, before three officers attended the site. Upon arrival, officers discovered "a large number of human bodies within a cold storage area" inside the building, Hull Crown Court heard. The bodies were "stored on the racks on both sides of the room" with the "vast majority were uncovered and in varying states of decomposition", he added. There was "evidence of human putrefaction". "Many bodies had hospital identity bracelets on their wrists or ankles. Some had biological hazard bracelets on, while others had no identifying markers," he said.
Victim Impact Statements
As the five-day sentencing hearing commenced, some of the hundreds of victims began delivering their impact statements to the court. Among those to speak was Jasmine Beverley, whose stillborn son Sunny, delivered at 18 weeks, was found at the site. Speaking on the BBC's Today programme on Monday, she said: "I discovered that he was still in there almost two years after we'd had the funeral and had him cremated, which wasn't the case. He was found inside the cold store on the floor in an envelope, and it was quite a distressing time to discover that what you thought had happened, hadn't actually happened." Sunny's family were eventually informed of where his remains had been stored. His mother said: "We'd always wondered where he'd been found, and we didn't know whether or not it was with the rest of the people. When we found out he was there with everybody, it sort of gave me a little peace that he wasn't on his own." Ms Beverley described Bush as appearing "lovely" but said he "had a lot of people fooled" by his respectful manner.
Norman Bridger's body was recovered from Legacy's premises in a cardboard coffin, a full 10 months after his passing. His family had already held a funeral service, and his daughter Karen King had been given lockets containing what she believed to be his ashes. She said: "I collected what I thought were dad's ashes around three weeks after his funeral. I put some of them in a special locket for me and mum that we both wore around our necks, it felt important to us both to have dad still close to us. I now feel violated that I have had some unknown person's ashes so close to me. Mum still had what we had believed to be dad's ashes at home with her. It added to our distress having to take them from her. Mum is 94 years old, she is very frail and suffers from dementia and cancer, I haven't been able to bring myself to tell her about what Bush has done to dad."
Jonathan Butler's body was discovered at Legacy eight months following his death. His partner Kathryn Howard paused repeatedly to gather herself while delivering her victim impact statement. "An apology would not be enough for me. It could never take away the pain and grief that I feel for enduring not one but two funerals for my lovely John. I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
Financial Fraud
Relatives gasped as the court was told Robert Bush had received £3.7 million into his bank account across seven years. Yet the court was informed the turnover reported to HMRC throughout this period does not correspond with that sum. The prosecution alleges that the total amount defrauded from clients surpassed £500,000. Mr Paxton stated Bush told officers he had debts of around £90,000. He continued: "He believed there were around 30 bodies at the Hessle Road site and that five or six of these were recent and in the process of waiting to be cremated. In respect of the older bodies that had not been cremated due to cashflow issues, his plan had been to generate more business and clear the backlog within two to three months. He believed the oldest body that was retained was from April 2023. He said these were generally of older people above the age of 60."
Mr Paxton noted Bush answered "no comment" when questioned whether human ashes were supplied to families of individuals who had yet to be cremated. He stated Bush clarified that he possessed no method of recording where remains were positioned at the location, as he had "personally retained this information". The five-day sentencing hearing continues.
