Police officers searching Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull uncovered a shocking scene in March 2024, including 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes. The business’s former director, Robert Bush, has since admitted 67 offences, including failing to bury and cremate people and giving out wrong ashes.
This story contains details some might find distressing.
Boxes of tissues sit on a coffee table in a front room at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors. There are opulent chairs, upholstered in pale yellow; a black and white print of a trawler that nods to Hull's fishing heritage.
It feels like an attempt to put customers at ease, painting the picture of a caring, community-led business.
But on the other side of a partition wall - an area Legacy's director Robert Bush ordered an employee to keep hidden from others in the industry - is a labyrinth of dimly-lit corridors.
A police officer shines her torch into messy side rooms, strewn with rubbish and in total disorder.
“It's strange, innit?”
Ashes, bagged up by police, were found at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.
Some 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes were found by police when the business was raided in March 2024.
During his arrest, Bush accused Humberside Police of treating him like the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and attempted to downplay his crimes.
He questioned why he had been held at gunpoint, claiming the way he had been treated
“feels vindictive”and he was not a
“complicated”character.
Since then, he has admitted 67 offences, including failing to bury and cremate people, and giving out wrong ashes.
What did the court hear about Bush’s conduct?
Bush's five-day sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court, which began on Monday, heard he breached the trust of families on an
“almost industrial scale”. Victims reading out their impact statements branded his actions as
“evil”and relatives have wept as they heard details from prosecutors about the
“horror scene”discovered by officers at the Hessle Road site.
Among the most heartbreaking finds were remains in a paper bag that police mistook for a baby bird. They then noticed hospital wristbands wrapped around the waist that read:
“Baby Jasmine Beverley, born on 13/05/22 at 05:04”.
On Wednesday, barristers described how damp and mould had spread to coffins, and that faeces and dried bodily fluids were seen on the floor.
The view from Bush's side of his desk
Footage from officers' body-worn cameras has revealed the scale of chaos at the funeral home.
It showed instruments and carrier bags discarded on work surfaces and even sinks, while desks were littered with paperwork.
At one point, an officer can be heard saying,
“There's, like, urns... where you go pick up...”she says, before trailing off.
Bush's desk is seen piled with paperwork and post, while underneath, there are piles of rubbish.
In stark contrast, several motorcycle suits and helmets were seen hanging neatly from hooks; Bush boasted of his motorcycle racing exploits, posting videos on social media.
Motorcycle racing clothing stored at the funeral parlour
At about the same time as police filmed inside the funeral home, Bush was being arrested at Heathrow Airport, having just returned from holiday.
Alongside the footage, Humberside Police has released excerpts from interviews with Bush.
Early in the investigation, he was asked by a detective to explain why
“25 or so bodies”had not been cremated when they should have been.
“The debt started to accrue,”
he said.
“The level of cash flow problems that I was having... It presented an opportunity that I did not have to maybe do it immediately [get the deceased cremated].
“If I held on to [the bodies] for a little bit and back-filled another one and catch up. But I didn't catch up.”
Bush accepted he should have contacted the council's bereavement services and apologised to his victims.
“I know that this has hurt people,”
he said.
“I am so sorry for the hurt caused, but I never wanted it to be like this. It wasn't my plan. It was poor choices.”
Watch: Former funeral director Robert Bush being arrested for second time
In July 2024, Bush was arrested a second time and is seen on camera attempting to downplay his crimes.
“I don't understand. I'm not like an international...”
he says, not finishing the sentence.
Later, he says:
“I've been arrested off a plane [at] gunpoint... It's like I'm [Marxist revolutionary] Che Guevara or something.
“I'm not that complicated and I've said so many times let me help you unravel what it is. I'll come in and talk to you.”
A back room at Legacy strewn with rubbish
When a detective tells him the force is gathering evidence, Bush seeks to pass off his criminal acts as administrative oversights.
“I know I'm not good at accounting, me handwriting's bad and all that, and I'm sure there's times when you've looked at things and gone, 'I don't know what that means'.”
Bush also complained about police procedure.
“Feels vindictive,”
he says.
“The way this is being done. I've been compliant since the word go.”
In later interviews, Bush appears more guarded in his responses and in early July, his solicitor reads out a statement in which his client insists he never prevented burials.
However, while he accepted he was not licensed for funeral plans, he made arrangements so people's funeral needs were met.
When asked by a detective what Bush had done with the money he received from a funeral plan, he replied:
“No comment.”
What further evidence did detectives put to him?
The detective referenced bank statements showing money from the victim entering Bush's business account and pointed out that at no point did he make any payments to the plan the victim thought she had purchased.
Bush again exercised his right not to comment.
After the woman made her first payment to Bush, he went to Tesco and spent £136, the detective said.
“Was that to do with funeral costs?”
the detective asked Bush.
Again, Bush declined to comment.
“Following her last payment of £580, you have made payments, a lot of payments, to the DVLA for vehicles... were you waiting for that in order to pay the DVLA those bills?”
Bush again refused to answer the question.
He is due to be sentenced later this week. The hearing continues.
Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on , watch the latest episode of Look North.
Key Facts
- Police found 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull in March 2024.
- Robert Bush has admitted 67 offences, including failing to bury and cremate people and giving out wrong ashes.
- Bush's five-day sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court began on Monday.
- The hearing was told families were betrayed on an “almost industrial scale”.
