Distraught families who were given the ashes of strangers by a rogue undertaker as their loved ones were left to rot in his funeral parlour have told a court ‘no sentence could ever be enough to repay the hurt he has caused’.
Robert Bush, 47, stockpiled dozens of dead bodies and had 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 is being sentenced for 67 offences related to preventing the lawful and decent burial of 30 bodies and defrauding grieving families at his Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises.
Hull Crown Court heard today 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.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said that between March 2017 and April 2024, more than £3million was paid into Bush’s business and personal accounts, however this did not reflect the turnover reported to HMRC.
There was also an element of ‘profligate personal spending’, with almost £900,000 paid to his wife, Vikki, while Bush enjoyed holidays to the US to watch motorcycle racing.
At least 226 people were victims of Bush’s offending – with his sentencing hearing scheduled to last an unprecedented five days because of the scale of criminality.
Bush’s funeral parlour was finally raided by police in 2024, when his own employee, Patrick Moore, told two workers from another funeral firm that there were 29 bodies at the premises and some bodies ‘have been there for years’.
Robert Bush arriving at Hull Crown Court ahead of his unprecedented five-day sentencing hearing
A court sketch showing Bush wiping his eyes as he listened to the sentence hearing with his head bowed at Hull Crown Court (court sketch)
The 47-year-old left bodies to rot in his Legacy Independent Funeral Directors businesses in Hull, Humberside, and handed the wrong ashes to mourning relatives
He reluctantly – fearing ‘repercussions’ – then let the men into the funeral home when Bush was on holiday in America despite his boss telling him ‘not to bring anyone back to Legacy or help put a body in the fridge area.’
The men were so shocked by what they discovered, they flagged down a passing police car.
When the property was raided, officers found a brown paper bag containing a baby foetus, uncovered bodies ‘in varying states of decomposition’ and a naked body lying on a stretcher on the floor.
Mr Paxton said: ‘There was evidence of human putrefaction, visible on the floor, and a mop and bucket in the corner of the room, which contained further evidence of putrefaction.
‘Many of the bodies had hospital identity bracelets on their wrists or ankles, some had biological hazard bracelets, while others had no identifying markers’
He added: ‘The area was dirty and unkempt. There were a number of items on the floor which appeared to have been dropped or swept to the back.
‘These items included flowers, rings, teddies, and cards with messages. These items were clearly personal possessions that loved ones would have wanted to stay with their deceased family members.’
Bush was arrested at Heathrow Airport as his plane landed from Arizona. He told officers: ‘I’ve f***** it all up, everything, my whole world.’
In a later interview, Bush said that he believed there were around 30 bodies at his premises and five or six were recent and in the process of waiting to be cremated.
He said older bodies had not been cremated ‘due to cash flow issues’ and he planned to clear the backlog within three months.
When asked if human ashes were provided to families of persons who had yet to be cremated, he answered: ‘No comment.’
Victims of Bush’s callous offending have been reading out statements outlining how they were affected by his crimes, often pausing to hold back tears.
Some have described wearing lockets containing ashes they now know did not belong to their loved ones, or placing remains on their mantelpiece only to discover they were the remains of someone else.
Mark Hotham died in September 2023, aged 89.
Some of those affected by Bush’s crimes demonstrated outside the court this morning, calling for regulation of the funeral industry
Mark Hotham, who weighed 19 stone at the time of his death. One man was able to lift his coffin, leading his relatives to believe he was not in it
Muriel Winning died in July 2023 aged 61 and her family was given ashes. Her body was recovered from Bush’s premises in March 2024
He weighed 19 stone at the time of his death, but at his funeral that month, the driver of the hearse managed to lift the coffin onto the trolley on his own, Hull Crown Court heard.
His carer, Debbie Keeting, who called him ‘granddad’, believed he wasn’t in the coffin and demanded to see inside but was eventually calmed by relatives.
Mr Hotham’s body was discovered at Legacy in March 2024, five months after his death.
In her statement, Ms Keeting said: ‘On the day of his funeral, I began to notice that things didn’t feel right. I couldn’t explain it at the time-but I knew something was off.
‘Later, the unthinkable truth came to light: his body had not been laid to rest as we were told. He had not been cremated.
‘He had not been treated with the dignity he deserved. Instead, his decomposing body was later identified through DNA.
‘No words can express how it feels to find out that someone you love so deeply was treated this way after death.
‘I feel a terrible sense of guilt, as though I failed him-despite doing everything I could to honour his wishes.
‘The thought that he has still not been properly laid to rest haunts me. I feel like I can’t grieve properly. I cry every day. My life has been on hold ever since.’
She added: ‘I cared for the ashes that were given to me. I took the urn out with me. I would talk to them and even set them at the Christmas dinner table with a cracker hat on them.
‘I felt like he was still with me and it kept me going. All the time my grandad was rotting in that place. It just makes me feel sick.’
The faces of the dead mistreated by Bush. Police have identified more than 240 victims but there may have been many more
Muriel Winning died aged 61 on 22 July 2023.
The following month, her son, Byron Lill, attended Legacy to retrieve what he thought were his mother’s ashes.
Her body was recovered from Legacy in March 2024, seven months after her death.
In his statement, Mr Lill said: ‘I work close to the Legacy premises on Hessle Road and drive past it every day.
‘Knowing now that mum was laying inside for almost eight months destroys me. I was physically so close to her.
‘Knowing she was still laying there when Bush smiled and handed me a box, he said were her ashes, when she was still only a matter of feet from me, I just can’t accept.’
The body of Norman Bridger, who died aged 94, was recovered from Legacy in a cardboard coffin 10 months after his death.
His family had already had a funeral for him, and his daughter, Karen King, had lockets for her and her mother containing the ashes given to her by Bush.
In a statement read in court, Ms King said she struggled with the fact that her father was still in the grey T-shirt in which he had died.
She said: ‘It just shows to me that Bush did not care for him or respect him as he promised he would.
‘My lovely dad lay in a cardboard coffin for almost 11 months. It is beyond belief.
‘I’ll never know why. It feels he was just forgotten.
‘When the police officers knocked on my door and gave me the news that dad may still be at the funeral home, the feelings I had were overwhelming.
‘My partner, David, and I broke down in tears. How could someone be so cruel? Why would he just leave him there?’
The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, is due to sentence Bush on Friday.
