The hundreds of victims of crooked funeral director Robert Bush
Hundreds of families in Hull are reeling from the “absolute devastation” caused by crooked funeral director Robert Bush, whose deceptive business practices have spanned more than a decade. The 48-year-old owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors admitted to 67 crimes committed over a 12-year period.
Hull Crown Court heard around 240 victim impact statements will be submitted ahead of sentencing in July. The victims include relatives of 31 people whose bodies were kept at the facility for months after the scheduled cremation date, families with unidentified loved ones’ ashes, and approximately 150 people who were sold fake funeral plans.
Speaking outside the court after Bush pleaded guilty to all charges, campaigner Karen Dry, whose parents were both cremated at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, said: “There is a deep sense of betrayal, emotional stress and damage caused by this individual in many families across this city.
“From the pain of not knowing whether we have the ashes of our loved ones, to families going through the trauma of DNA profiling to identify their deceased loved ones, to families going through the hassle of a second funeral, not to mention the pain and distress caused by fake and now worthless funeral plans.”
Detective Inspector Alan Curtis, senior investigating officer from Humberside Police, said: “The immense devastation and emotional damage inflicted by Robert Bush on hundreds of victims and families cannot be underestimated.
“Thirty-one families believed their loved ones had been cremated, but they actually stayed at the Legacy building on Hessle Road. Most were given ashes and informed that their loved ones had been cremated.
“Other families who chose cremation through Legacy expected ashes that were never provided, or were deceived by Bush and given ashes that we now know their loved ones did not have.
“The distress and devastation this has caused to those families is unimaginable.
“People paid Bush for funeral plans so their families would not have to worry about their own funeral expenses and arrangements in the future.
“He betrayed that trust and left some victims in uncertainty about their own funeral arrangements and without the ability to pay for them.
“The damage to families in our communities is likely irreparable, given the many victims who have suffered and continue to suffer.”
30 people whose bodies were found in the funeral home:
Norman Bridger
Jonathan Butler
Muriel Wins
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 “fetus allegations” in which Bush falsely claimed that the ashes he gave to mothers were the remains of their unborn children
Jasmine Beverley
Katie Woolston
Stacey Foster
Lucy James-Guest Ness
– Fifty-seven fraud victims through Ashes
Michelle Drewry
Shelley 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 Town
Christine Colville
Kirstie Hobden
Michelle Martin
Donald Leslie Brigham
Lee Clark
Curtis Neylon
susan brown
Gillian Owst
Sheila Robinson
Bret 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 Lahey
Lynn Farm
Macey Urry
Kirsty Young
Tracey Brigham
Bille-Jo Sufffill
Jill Hall
Brandon Brown
Rebecca Windas
Sophie Tibbles-Carrott
Rebecca Thompson
– 150 people sold fake funeral plans between 2012 and 2024
– 12 charities that Bush stole money from by not transferring donations collected at funerals
Salvation Army
MacMillan Cancer Support
CHEF
Trust of Dogs
Pigeon House
Help for Heroes
Maister Lodge
Oakwood Dog Rescue
RNLI
Sailors Children’s Community
IF ONLY
Hull Fishing Heritage Charity
