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A fraudulent funeral director broke the trust of families on an “almost industrial scale” as their loved ones’ bodies were left “rotting away”, a court has heard.
Robert Bush, owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, appeared at Hull crown court on Monday for a five-day sentencing hearing. He previously pleaded guilty to 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing lawful and decent burial.
Several family members read out their victim impact statements to the court, recounting nightmares and PTSD from Bush’s offending, with some breaking down in tears and struggling to speak.
On his way into court, Bush, 48, from Otley, West Yorkshire, told reporters he was sorry to the families affected.
Several family members recalled Bush “smiling” as he handed them the wrong ashes, while their loved ones remained secretly uncremated. When Jayne Rimmington came to collect the ashes of her 86-year-old mother, Shirley Wright, in October 2023, she was surprised by how heavy they were. Bush claimed this was due to her “bone density”.
The body of Wright was recovered on the Legacy premises five months after her death. “I trusted him,” said Rimmington. “He stood there smiling, handed me the box, when she was still laying there, rotting away. It’s a purely evil thing to do.”
Vicky Mitchell received the ashes of her father, Collin Wainman, in a navy blue box inside a Hobbycraft bag, with Bush apologising at the time for not having any gift bags at hand. The 69-year-old’s body was recovered on 8 March 2024, 198 days after his death.
“My opinion is he is a charlatan,” Mitchell told the court. “A gravedigger from the 1800s. He didn’t care.”
In a search of the Legacy premises in March 2024, Humberside police found many bodies left uncovered and in varying states of decomposition, stored on racks on both sides of the room. One naked body still lay on a stretcher on the floor. Flowers, rings, teddy bears and cards with messages, intended to be placed with loved ones, had been swept under the floor.
The removal of bodies took two days and several officers, including a disaster identification team. Bodies had to be identified by dental records, DNA examination or fingerprints.
Police also uncovered the remains of an 18-week stillborn boy, identified as Sunny Beverly-Collin, on the floor of the premises, inside what appeared to be a police evidence bag. His mother, Jasmine, believed he had been given a funeral and cremated.
Rea Burton, granddaughter of David Burton, attended the Legacy funeral home to collect his ashes in December 2023. Bush asked Burton what the family intended to do with the ashes, to which Burton replied they would be put in necklace charms for the family and her uncle would put some into the ink for a tattoo. Bush told her this was a “brilliant idea”.
“In reality, Rob had deceived us,” said Burton. “He had abandoned and hidden our loved one for months and had given us a stranger’s ashes with a smile on his face.”
After the funeral service of 94-year-old Norman Bridger, his daughter, Karen King, placed what she believes to be her father’s ashes into lockets worn by her and her mother. “I now feel violated [that] I had some unknown person’s ashes so close to me,” King said.
To thank him for his work on the funeral, King had also gifted Bush a bottle of port. “The smile on his face as he accepted it will always haunt me,” she told the court.
David Gorbutt visited Bush to collect the ashes of his wife, Susan, in September 2023. He was handed a paper bag containing a small cardboard box with her name. When Gorbutt told Bush he “hope[d] they’re the right ones”, Bush replied: “Yes, they are definitely the right ones.”
Gorbutt scattered the ashes at the same site as his son’s in Little Switzerland, as per Susan’s wishes. In his statement, Gorbutt said he felt guilty for being “unable to fulfil my wife’s last request, that I deal with her death quickly” as she wanted, recalling that “Susan would say: ‘You know I do not like the cold’”.
Like many families, Gorbutt also called for stronger regulation of the funeral industry. “It is hard to believe a person needs more permits to serve burgers than to deal with the dead,” he said.
