Hundreds of families in Hull have been left reeling from the "utter devastation" caused by fraudulent funeral director Robert Bush, whose deceptive business practices spanned over a decade. The 48-year-old owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors admitted to 67 offences committed over a 12-year period.
Hull Crown Court heard that approximately 240 victim impact statements are due to be submitted ahead of his sentencing in July. The victims include relatives of 31 individuals whose bodies were held at his premises for months beyond their scheduled cremation, families whose loved ones’ unidentified ashes were discovered, and around 150 people who were sold fraudulent funeral plans.
Speaking outside court after Bush pleaded guilty to all charges, campaigner Karen Dry, whose parents were both cremated at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, said: “There is an enduring sense of deep betrayal, emotional stress, and damage caused by this individual, to many families right across this city.
“From the torment of not knowing whether we have the ashes of our loved ones, to families having the trauma of DNA profiling to establish the identity of their deceased loved ones and having the distress of a second funeral, not to mention the anguish and hardship caused by fraudulent, and now worthless, funeral plans.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Alan Curtis, of Humberside Police, said: “The utter devastation and emotional harm Robert Bush has caused to hundreds of victims and families cannot be underestimated.
“Thirty-one families believed that their loved one had been cremated, when in fact they remained on site within the Legacy premises on Hessle Road. Most had been given ashes and had been advised that their loved ones’ cremation had taken place.
“Other families, who had chosen cremations through Legacy, were left waiting for ashes that have never been provided, or were deceived by Bush and given ashes that we now know were not their loved ones.
“The distress and devastation that this has caused for those families is simply unimaginable.
“People paid Bush for funeral plans, so in the future their families didn’t have to worry about costs and arrangements for their own funerals.
“He betrayed this trust, leaving some victims with the uncertainty around their own funeral arrangements and without the means to pay for them.
“The damage he has caused to families across our communities is quite possibly irreparable, with so many victims who have suffered and continue to do so.”
Thirty people whose bodies were found at the funeral home:
Norman Bridger
Jonathan Butler
Muriel Winning
Raymond Dagnall
Colin Wainman
Maureen Graham
Susan Gorbutt
Shirley Wright
Mark Hotham
John Carlill
Joyce Moulton
Terence Buck
David Burton
Audrey Leach
Danny Middleton
Tony Munro
Jessie Stockdale
Peter Moody
Jean Collinson
Alan Gray
Hilda Mary Rhodes
Stephen Perrins
Joan Stark
Brian Johnson
Graham Finn
Terence White
Susan Stone
Herbert James Porter
Peter Brown
Julie Webb
– Four “foetus allegations” where Bush falsely told mothers the ashes he gave them were the remains of their unborn children
Jasmine Beverley
Katie Woolston
Stacey Foster
Lucy James-Guest Ness
– Fifty-seven victims of fraud over ashes
Michelle Drewry
Shelly Chearman
Richard Collins
Brooke Atkinson
Linda Hall
Billie-Jo Chapman
Petrina Featherstone
Carl Osler
Dianne Scandole
Carol Brown
David Greensides
Norma Ellam
Maxine Penrose
Sharon Shimmells
Claire Wilkinson
Mark Anderson
Kadie Laws
Tracy Hudson
Paul Whitehead
Harry Welsh
Tracey Hartley
Jackie Delaney
Jillian Townhill
Christine Colville
Kirstie Hobden
Michelle Martin
Donald Leslie Brigham
Lee Clark
Curtis Neylon
Susan Brown
Gillian Owst
Sheila Robinson
Brett Moses
Richard Shaw
Mandy Bailey
Valerie Coates
James Meikleham
Yvonne Robinson
Heather Welford
Michael Endall
Debra Lawson
Joyce Rispin
Peter Welburn
Samantha Rosenquest
Lisa Thompson-Frazer
Sylvia Rawson
Mark Hague
Lynn Farmery
Macey Urry
Kirsty Young
Tracey Brigham
Bille-Jo Suffill
Jill Hall
Brendon Brown
Rebecca Windas
Sophie Tibbles-Carrott
Rebecca Thompson
– 150 people sold fraudulent funeral plans between 2012 and 2024
– Twelve charities that Bush stole from by failing to pass on donations collected at funerals
Salvation Army
MacMillan Cancer Support
CHIEF
Dogs Trust
Dove House
Help for Heroes
Maister Lodge
Oakwood Dog Rescue
RNLI
Sailors Children Society
WISHH
Hull Fishing Heritage Charity
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