Robert Bush sentenced to 20 years over bodies and fake ashes scandal

Undertaker who abandoned dozens of bodies and gave families strangers’ ashes sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Robert Bush, 48, the owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after abandoning dozens of bodies and giving grieving families the ashes of strangers. Prosecutors said he betrayed the trust of bereaved relatives on an "almost industrial scale."

He enjoyed luxury holidays on the cash paid for funerals of people whose bodies were left to rot at the home, or whose ashes were left in bags or strewn across desks and floors.

Over five harrowing days more than 200 of his victims told their stories – many through tears – of how he had shattered their lives.

Four mothers said they will never recover from being told the ashes they had kept in an urn or had made into jewellery were not those of their babies – and in one case were not even human.

Detectives believe he kept a stockpile of mixed-up ashes belonging to several people which he could dip into whenever he was chased by a bereaved family for their loved one’s remains.

Bush was sentenced at Hull Crown Court today for 67 offences spanning 12 years and affecting hundreds of victims.

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said echoed Bush’s own barrister, who told the court he had caused ‘anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension’.

He said: ‘The awful truth is that anyone whose loved one went through Legacy at any time when it was operating can now have no confidence as to how they were treated, or as to whose ashes they have, unless they were one of the 30 bodies recovered in March.’

The senior judge said he had ‘no doubt that the defendant behaved in such a deceitful way because of financial greed’.

‘He must unfortunately have a heartless side to him too, which enabled him to treat the living and the dead in the way that he did,’ he said.

‘The defendant was so preoccupied with his own enrichment that he behaved in a shocking and disgraceful way towards the deceased entrusted to his care, and his behaviour towards their living relatives was characterised by dishonesty, deception and heartlessness.

‘If he could reuse a coffin that someone else had already paid for, he would do so. If it was cheaper not to keep the deceased in refrigerated conditions, he would do that too.

‘Imagine the feelings of someone who had some of the ashes they were given made into a trinket or something to wear as a comfort and a remembrance of a departed relative, only to find that they had been given the ashes of a completely different person.

‘Imagine the feelings of parents on discovering that they had not been given their baby’s ashes but an unknown person’s ashes – or something else altogether – and now they have nothing.

‘These are examples of the harms the defendant has done.’

Mr Justice Hilliard said there had been no checks or oversight ‘at all’ on the condition deceased were kept in at Legacy.

He added: ‘A single visit might have been enough to bring some of what he was doing to a halt.

‘Even the prospect of a visit might have meant that some of what he was doing never started in the first place.’

Prime Minister Andy Burnham offered his sympathies to the families of Bush’s victims and backed calls for the regulation of funeral homes and mortuaries.

Speaking on a visit to Sheffield, he said: ‘I feel for the families and I know it’ll be a difficult day for them with these matters in court again. I was truly horrified when I heard what had happened. Appalling for any family to go through that. This needs a proper response in terms of the regulation needed, to make sure no family goes through that again.

‘People, I think, would assume that the highest standards apply to this area and we’ve got to make sure that they do apply and that there can’t be any repeat of what we’ve seen.’

The ‘horror scene’ of his premises at Hull-based Legacy was discovered in March 2024 when he was on holiday.

When police were tipped off that something criminal may be going on at the business, they found bodies in varying states of decomposition, including one of a stillborn baby.

The court heard he kept bodies for months after they should have been cremated, gave out the wrong ashes, took money for funeral plans without actually making any of the arrangements and even pocketed charity donations collected at services.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said Bush ‘operated within the heart of the community for around 14 years, entrusted by hundreds of bereaved families, in their time of need, to treat their loved ones with dignity’.

He added: ‘And yet over almost 12 of those years, Mr Bush breached that trust on an almost industrial scale in a myriad of ways – by selling funeral plans when not authorised to do so; by failing to bury or cremate loved ones; by falsely claiming he had done so when presenting families with ashes which were not those of their loved ones.

‘He raised expectations, made false promises and stole cash donations intended for local and national charities.

‘All of Mr Bush’s offences impacted young and old alike across the community of Hull and beyond.’

More than 80 shocking witness statements were read to the court, either by victims in person or on their behalf.

The body of Jasmine Beverley’s baby Sunny Beverley-Conlin was found in a paper bag on the floor almost two years after he was ‘born sleeping’ on May 13, 2022.

Sobbing, she turned to face Bush in the dock, who showed no emotion as she told him: ‘I trusted you with the most precious person in my life.’

She added: ‘Your actions have taken away something that can never be replaced – the peace of believing our loved ones were treated with care and respect after death.

‘The reality I now live with is that my baby boy Sunny has spent more time in your possession than he ever did with his own family.

‘I have to live with the fact that my son was kept for so long without my knowledge, and that when he was eventually found he was in a brown paper bag on the floor.

‘As a mother, that is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.’

Katie Woolston turned to Bush when she suffered a miscarriage in May 2023.

She collected a box of ashes from Legacy on September 14, 2023, but records showed Bush had not collected her baby’s ashes until later that day.

Ms Woolston said: ‘Robert Bush made one of the most heartbreaking times of my life even more of a living nightmare.

‘I often wonder where my baby’s remains are, if they ever made it back to the Legacy funeral home, or if they were simply disposed of like a piece of litter, and those thoughts break my heart.’

Stacey Foster and her partner Peter Cooke had jewellery made out of their son Tommy’s ashes, only to find out they were the wrong ones.

Ms Foster said: ‘The heartache that we have gone through is immense. Not only have we lost our baby in such devastating circumstances, to be treated in such a way by Robert Bush is beyond words.’

She fought back tears as she told the court: ‘We were robbed of having our baby back with us and Tommy was robbed of his identity by the complete disrespect shown to Tommy and our situation by Robert Bush.’

Lucy Ness got in touch with Bush after having a miscarriage in April 2021.

He gave her an urn that he claimed contained her baby’s ashes, but during the raid at Legacy police found empty packaging labelled as those of her baby.

An investigation found that Bush had not collected her baby’s ashes from the crematorium until two days after he gave her the urn.

The real ashes have never been recovered.

Ms Ness told the court: ‘I put my trust in Robert to do the right thing and look after my baby. He has done the lowest of the low.

‘I have now been left with nothing but an empty bag, which once contained the ashes of my baby.

‘I will never know what he has done to them, where they have gone or who they are with.

‘That baby was my hope and I can never forgive him for what he has done. I will never recover.’

Bush looked ahead impassively as the statements were read, showing no visible emotion.

‘I try to wear a brave smile’

A grieving widow described how she spoke to her husband’s ashes every day, only to discover they did not belong to him.

Valerie Coates said she was ‘haunted’ by what happened to her husband Ron, and told the court: ‘I try to wear a brave smile, but my close friends and family know that I am tortured by thoughts of how Ron’s poor body was mistreated – and the cruel realisation that the beautiful urn I cherished, and talked to every day, did not contain his ashes after all.’

Mandy Bailey said she felt ‘devastated, robbed and sick to the stomach’ after learning that the bag that should have had her aunt Barbara Stockdale’s ashes in was empty.

She told the court: ‘I can’t help but wonder whose ashes we spread on Auntie Bab’s parents’ grave. If in fact what we were given were even ashes.

‘I am devastated, we do not have Babs and it feels like her life meant nothing, like there is no existence of her.

‘I could have someone else’s relative and they could have my relative and we will never know the truth.’

Claire Edwards said she feels she has let her mother down after her ashes ‘can’t be located anywhere’.

She said: ‘I feel guilty about what happened with my mum’s funeral arrangements and that I am unable to place my mum’s ashes with my late dad’s ashes – which were hers/our wishes.

‘This is because my mum’s ashes can’t be located anywhere.’

The ashes of both Jackie Delaney’s husband Keith Delaney and her sister Rita Shaw were found at Legacy. She had already been given ashes for both of them.

The court heard Mrs Delaney had used her husband’s ashes to have four necklaces and two Pandora beads made to be worn by the family.

Mrs Shaw’s husband Richard Shaw, who had worked for Legacy in the past, said: ‘I had that relationship with Rob, and he was aware of what I had been through with Rita.

‘I trusted him completely, but I now see him as an evil person who has robbed lots of people, not just me. He has abused his power and robbed people who were at their most vulnerable.’

Defending, Richard Wright KC told the court Bush accepts he is ‘hated and despised’ as a ‘pariah’ and has apologised to the families left devastated by his mistreatment of their deceased loved ones.

Watched by many of those families, Mr Wright said: ‘This offending has caused extreme emotional pain, anguish and upset on a scale that it is difficult to comprehend.’

He said: ‘He is treated, completely understandably, as a pariah – hated and despised.’

Mr Wright said he accepted that his client’s apology ‘is likely to be angrily rejected as some late attempt to gain some trifling advantage’.

He said: ‘We submit it is not that.’

Mr Wright told the court: ‘There are demands for answers – where did the money go, why did he do it? They are all very good questions.

‘Questions assume there are good answers or clear explanations that explain his behaviour.

‘Greed, incompetence, the passage of time, an inability to keep up with his own failings.

‘We submit all of these are likely to have played a part, though none satisfactorily answers the questions.’

The court heard that Bush spent more than £42,000 on holidays while he was defrauding scores of customers.

He also spent £9,000 on camping and almost £7,000 on motorcycle racing in the year he told a grieving mother that her unborn baby had been cremated, while leaving it on the floor of his funeral home in a paper bag.

Financial records submitted to the court showed that between 2017 and 2024, when he was arrested, Bush spent more than £42,000 on holidays, £21,000 on motorcycle racing and £17,400 on home improvements.

Throughout that time, the court has heard, he was defrauding customers by taking money for funeral plans he was not authorised to set up and giving families the wrong ashes for their loved ones.

His holiday spending over the seven years included £6,400 on three trips to Center Parcs, £3,800 on a trip to Italy and £3,000 on the holiday he was taking with his daughter in Arizona when the horrors at the funeral home were discovered.

Records showed that in 2022, the year he failed to cremate Jasmine Beverley’s baby Sunny, he spent more than £9,000 on camping.

Prosecutors also highlighted almost £10,000 of retail spending, including £1,000 in Boodles jewellers, and £3,385 on restaurants, including £250 for a meal at fashionable Covent Garden restaurant Clos Maggiore.

In April, Bush pleaded guilty to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and theft from the 12 charities.

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.