The hundreds of victims of crooked funeral director Robert Bush – UK Times

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