Tuesday, July 28, 2026 -A British funeral director is facing the possibility of being imprisoned over a scandal that saw bodies left uncremated while relatives were handed other people’s ashes.
An ex-employee described Robert Bush’s funeral parlour as
“something from a horror scene”, prosecutor Chris Paxton said at the start of a
five-day sentencing hearing today, July 27.
Police who searched his premises after a tip-off found 31
bodies in a cold storage area 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.
“There were bodies stored on the racks on both sides of the
room,” the lawyer said at Hull Crown Court in northeast England.
“The vast majority were uncovered and in varying states of
decomposition,” he added.
The 48-year-old previously pleaded guilty to 67 offences
spanning 12 years and affecting hundreds of victims.
Jasmine Beverley, whose son Sunny was stillborn in May 2022,
said Bush appeared “lovely” and presented himself as “very respectful”.
“It was a shock to learn what had actually been going on
behind the closed doors,” she told BBC radio, adding Sunny’s remains were found
in a brown envelope on the floor even though she believed he had been
cremated.
“I discovered that he was still in there almost two years
after we’d had the funeral,” she said, describing the discovery as
“distressing”.
Beverley and her husband and a number of other families are
campaigning for changes to funeral parlour regulation.
Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull,
was trusted by bereaved families but mistreated them on an “almost industrial
scale”, Paxton said.
Police began investigating in March 2024 after being
contacted by someone over concerns for “the deceased” at the business.
The sentencing hearing is to hear statements from over 100
victims.
Bush has admitted dozens of charges including
preventing lawful and decent burial, theft, and fraud.
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