Decaying bodies found at funeral home 'horror scene' as boss is sentenced - and one family 'given ashes in Hobbycraft bag'
Robert Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, even kept the remains of a stillborn baby in an envelope on the cold room floor for almost two years
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Warning: This story contains distressing content
A funeral boss who gave families the wrong ashes and kept bodies on stretchers on the floor in filthy storage boxes is being sentenced from today in front of the horrified loved ones of those whose bodies he mishandled.
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Robert Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, will be sentenced from today after pleading guilty to 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial.
The 48-year-old gave grieving families the wrong ashes while their loved ones’ bodies were left at his site for months. His offences spanned 12 years and affected hundreds of victims.
Emotional victim impact statements which spoke of the "pain and grief" inflicted by the "cruelty" of Bush were shared by loved ones of the deceased on Monday.
The family of 64-year-old Colin Wainman were given his ashes "inside a Hobbycraft bag", because Bush "did not have any gift bags left".
Read more: 'Monster' funeral director admits preventing 30 burials and stealing money from mourners
The family-owned Hull business became the centre of a criminal investigation after police were contacted by someone with access to the site in March 2024, expressing concerns over “care of the deceased".
When officers searched the premises, they found 31 bodies that should have been cremated months earlier, including a stillborn baby that had been there for almost two years.
They also found more than 100 sets of ashes, some with name labels and letters attached to the box.
The mother of one stillborn baby has described her distress after a funeral director kept his remains in an envelope on the cold room floor for almost two years.
Jasmine Beverley was one of hundreds of victims of funeral director Robert Bush, who is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court after breaching the trust of grieving families.
Her son, Sunny, was born stillborn at about 18 weeks and she believed he had been given a funeral and cremated.But, instead, his tiny remains lay on the floor of the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises, kept in what looked to a police officer to resemble an evidence bag.
Chris Paxton KC, prosecuting, told the court: "In this bag was a white cotton pad.“It looked like a dressing-type pad used by hospitals.
"[The officer] opened the pad and inside was a tiny item which he initially thought was a baby bird.“Although initially unsure, he suspected it was a human foetus."
Norman Bridger's body was left in a cardboard coffin on Legacy premises for 10 months after his death, which his daughter described as "beyond belief".
Karen King, the 94-year-old's daughter, said her "lovely dad" was still wearing the grey T-shirt in which he had died.
She told the court: “My lovely dad lay in a cardboard coffin for almost 11 months. It is beyond belief."
When police informed Karen of the situation, she "broke down in tears", telling the court: "How could someone be so cruel? Why would he just leave him there?”.
The fraudulent funeral director reportedly showed no emotion whilst listening from the dock.
The body of 73-year-old Jonathan Butler was left on Legacy premises for eight months. His partner, Kathryn Howard, was visibly emotional and struggled to get through her statement in court.
She said an apology from Bush would not be enough, and "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," she added.
Muriel Winning's body was kept on the property for seven months after her death.
The son of the 61-year-old, Byron Lill, had been given ashes that he believed belonged to his mother, which he kept on his windowsill.
He said his family had taken "tireless" care to prepare Muriel in her wedding dress, "in readiness for meeting with (her husband) David again" - efforts which he said were "for nothing".
The loved ones of 64-year-old Raymond Dagnall were also given ashes that they believed belonged to Raymond - only to later discover that there had been no cremation, despite Bush charging them for one.
Raymond's sister, Christina George, sobbed as she told the court: "I will never forgive Bush for his neglect and complete lack of respect."
“I try and think of all the good memories I have of us growing up as children together, but I keep coming back in my mind to him laying forgotten on a rack.
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.
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 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.