An evil undertaker, who stockpiled bodies at his funeral parlour and gave grieving families the wrong ashes, has been jailed for 20 years.
Robert Bush, 47, told mourners he had cremated or buried their relatives when they were actually in his ‘dirty’ premises and also kept half a ton of ashes in his Hull funeral home, which was likened by a casual staff member who eventually raised the alarm, to a ‘horror scene‘.
Coffins were reused and families mourned loved ones at funerals not knowing that a stranger’s body lay in the casket.
The funeral director eventually pleaded guilty to 67 offences related to preventing the lawful and decent burial of 30 bodies and defrauding grieving families at his Legacy Independent Funeral Directors business in Hull.
Hull Crown Court heard that Bush breached the trust of families on an ‘almost industrial scale’, spent money intended for funerals on himself and even stole from charity collection boxes at services.
Sentencing Bush today, the judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said: ‘If the police had not intervened, the practice would have continued.
‘The affront to public dignity, which these offences represent, means that there must be significant additional punishment.
‘Culpability is, of course, high because of the gross breach of trust in respect of people who were vulnerable, because they were bereaved and dependent upon the defendant.
Robert Bush, 47, ran a rogue funeral operation at his Legacy Independent Funeral Directors business in Hull, stockpiling bodies
When it was raided by police in March 2024, officers found the premises dirty, with possessions belonging to the dead thrown across the floor
‘They had gone to him for assistance to do right by the deceased.’
He added: ‘I’m satisfied that in order to maximise his dishonest profit, the defendant paid as little attention as he thought he could get away with when dealing with those who were entrusted to him.
‘He saw, for example, no need to pay for adequate refrigeration.
‘He spent other people’s money on improvements to his own home, whilst the Hessle Road premises were in a deplorable state.
‘There was obviously a cost to carrying out a cremation, but he would only pay that when it suited him to do so, or when personal expenditure permitted.
‘He was in Arizona on holiday when these offences were discovered. He must have chosen not to spend the cost of his holiday on cremating some of those who were at Legacy.’
The judge said that people who had used Bush’s services but were not directly involved with the case could not be sure they had been given their loved one’s ashes.
He added: ‘Unless a body was one of those actually recovered by the police in 2024, and was properly identified, no-one who had a cremation at Legacy at any time can actually know for certain whether they received the right ashes for their loved one, whether or not their case features on the indictment.’
More than 220 families were defrauded by Bush, with the undertaker failing to bury or cremate relatives or selling bogus funeral plans
Bush was arrested by police in March 2024 when he returned from a holiday in the US to watch motorcycle racing
He said Bush was motivated by ‘financial greed’ and had a ‘heartless side to him too’, while Legacy’s Hessle Road premises in Hull were ‘dreadful’.
He added: ‘If he could re-use a coffin someone had already paid for, he would do so.
‘If it was cheaper to keep someone in non-refrigerated conditions, he would do that too.’
The judge said what the dead lacked in dignity at the hands of Robert Bush ‘is more than made up for by the dignity with which the relatives have conducted themselves on their behalf in these proceedings’.
Over an unprecedented five-day sentencing hearing, Bush often looked down at the floor as statements from more than 200 victims were read in court, with many who chose to read them in person breaking down in tears.
The court heard that, while betraying the trust of grieving families, Bush spent tens of thousands of pounds on holidays and motorcycle racing and took a combined salary with his wife of more than £210,000-a-year.
One victim said that the horrors behind the doors of his business reminded her of ‘bodies found in Auschwitz’.
Tina Thames, whose adoptive father Jim Porter died aged 80 in January 2024, trusted Bush with his funeral.
It was held on February 2 of that year with Legacy, with Bush assuring the family that the body would be cremated later that day or early the next.
On the day of the funeral, Ms Thames had concerns that the coffin looked too small for Mr Porter, who had broad shoulders. She also noted that it was looked cheap or made of plywood.
When Legacy was raided by police in March 2024, following a tip-off from a member of staff who told a separate funeral business that bodies had been on the premises ‘for years’, Mr Porter’s body was found.
His hospital identification bands were still on his wrists and ankle.
In a victim impact statement, Ms Thames told the court: ‘When Dad adopted us, he gave us the gift of a good life. This was our chance to repay that gift.
‘This was the last thing I could do for him. I trusted Robert Bush to help us fulfil this. His office was full of thank you cards. I even considered sending him a card myself.
‘I feel deceived by him. It was all a sham. When the police told me there was a possibility that Dad was still at Legacy, I was devastated.
‘I had nightmares and thoughts of bodies, just piled up, came into my mind. The only way I can describe it is like seeing images of the bodies found in Auschwitz during [World War Two].
‘My mind felt in overdrive. The thought of what was happening there is horrific and so difficult to fully understand.’
The scandal only emerged when Bush’s own employee, Patrick Moore, told two workers from a separate funeral firm that there were 29 bodies at the premises and some ‘have been there for years’.
He likened the refrigerated room at the parlour to a ‘horror scene’.
Mr Moore reluctantly – fearing ‘repercussions’ from Bush – then let the men into the funeral home when Bush was on holiday in the US, despite having been told by his boss ‘not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body in the fridge area’.
They were so shocked by what they discovered, they flagged down a passing police car.
Bush was arrested at Heathrow as his plane landed from Arizona. He told officers: ‘I’ve f***** it all up, everything, my whole world.’
In mitigation, Bush’s barrister, Richard Wright KC, said he had apologised through the court to the families affected, adding: ‘He is treated, completely understandably, as a pariah – hated and despised.’
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
