A funeral director who kept kept bodies for months “to rot” after they should have been cremated and gave the wrong ashes to families has been described as “callous”.
Robert Bush is currently being sentenced after he kept the bodies of 31 people, including a stillborn baby, at his site in Hull.
An investigation discovered 100 sets of ashes at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, some with name labels and letters attached to the box.
The “horror scene” of his premises at Hull-based Legacy Independent Funeral Directors was discovered in March 2024 when he was on holiday, with bodies in various states of decomposition.
His five-day sentencing is set to hear from hundreds of family members who have been affected, with many describing the nightmares they have endured as a result of his offending.
John Banyard, who was given the wrong ashes of his close friend John Cargill, said: “If you can’t trust a funeral undertaker, who can you trust? How can someone be so callous, cold and calculated? Bush shook my hand and was saying ‘God bless’ to me.” And he added: “What he did was the lowest of the low.”
Upon his arrest, it was discovered that Mr Cargill’s body remained at the funeral home site, and had been there for 178 days.
Upon arriving in court wearing a face covering, Bush apologised to the affected families and told BBC reporters: “I’m sorry, yes.”
According to the broadcaster, he added: “I’ve written to the court. There is a letter submitted to the court.”
However, his apology was poorly received by the families of those affected, who said they were “appalled” that he had apologised to journalists but not to them.
Other family members said that Bush’s actions seem “determined effort to destroy so many lives”, while another family described the crimes as an “atrocious breach of trust”.
Hull Crown Court heard that Bush had mistreated hundreds of families on an “almost industrial scale” and that his offending had affected “young and old alike”.
Bush was arrested after police were contacted by someone with access to the site in March 2024, expressing concerns over “care of the deceased” at the business.
Officers discovered 31 bodies that should have been cremated months earlier and half a tonne of human ashes, as well as a human foetus in a bag.
Gasps were heard in court from family members as details of the scene were described in court.
Upon being arrested at Heathrow airport, Bush told police: “I’ve f***** it all up, everything, my whole world.”
Mr Paxton said Bush told officers he had debts of around £90,000.
Police found that many families of the deceased found at Legacy had already been given ashes by Bush, revealing a widespread practice of him giving grieving relatives the wrong ashes.
In her victim impact statement, Karen King said she feels “violated” after discovering she had been wearing “some unknown person’s ashes” in a locket around her neck after the death of her father. She had also given Bush a bottle of port for “taking care” of her father, with the discovery of his actions causing her to have an “emotional breakdown”.
In total, there were 254 victims of Bush’s crimes, with all the charges dating from a period between May 2012 and 6 March 2024.
Investigators also learned that Bush had committed fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans, where he would take payment for the plans but not pass any of the money on to the financial institutions that would hold it for when the funeral was required.
He also stole from charities by failing to pass on donations collected at funerals.
In one impact statement, David Gorbutt questioned why there is no regulation of the funeral industry.
Mr Gorbutt, whose wife Susan’s body was found at Legacy, said: “Those responsible for this atrocious breach of trust seem to work in an industry that is – hopefully, was – totally unregulated.
“Who knew that was the case? Certainly not me.
“It is hard to believe a person needs more permits to sell burgers than to deal with the dead.”
In his first police interview, Bush said he had developed a cash-flow problem because “people did not always pay,” and had debts of about £90,000.
He said he struggled with maintaining the payments for the leases, and believed there were about 30 bodies at the Hessle Road site, with five to six of them “recent” and waiting to be cremated.
The court heard that between March 2017 and April 2024, more that £3 million was paid into his business and personal accounts but the turnover reported to HMRC in these years does not reflect this.
During this time, Bush’s “profligate personal spending” and transfers to his wife accounted for over £879,000, Mr Paxton said.
In April, Bush pleaded guilty to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and theft from 12 charities including the Salvation Army and Macmillan Cancer Support.
He had already admitted 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to bodies found at the site, and four “foetus allegations” of fraud, where he presented ashes to women falsely saying that they were “the remains of their unborn”.
Bush also pleaded guilty to a further charge of fraud, covering the ashes of 57 people between 2017 and 2024, and one of fraudulent trading relating to funeral plans between 2012 and 2024.
The sentencing at Hull Crown Court is listed for five days, and is expected to hear from more than 100 victims.
Bush, formerly of Kirk Ella in East Yorkshire, but now of Otley in West Yorkshire, is on conditional bail.
