(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Some of the hundreds of victims of fraudulent funeral director Robert Bush started reading their victim impact statements as his five-day sentencing hearing got underway.
Several relatives chose to read their own statements at Hull Crown Court, pausing as they became emotional.
Bush listened to the statements from the dock, looking down but showing no visible reaction.
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of funeral director Robert Bush appearing at Hull Crown Court
(Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)
Norman Bridger, 94
Norman Bridger’s body was recovered from Legacy premises, in a cardboard coffin, 10 months after his death.
His family had already had a funeral for him, and his daughter, Karen King, had lockets for her and her mother containing the ashes given to her by Bush.
In a statement read in court, Ms King said she struggled with the fact that her father was still in the grey T-shirt in which he had died.
Norman Bridger, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
She said: “It just shows to me that Bush did not care for him or respect him as he promised he would.
“My lovely dad lay in a cardboard coffin for almost 11 months. It is beyond belief.
“I’ll never know why. It feels he was just forgotten.
“When the police officers knocked on my door and gave me the news that dad may still be at the funeral home, the feelings I had were overwhelming.
“My partner, David, and I broke down in tears. How could someone be so cruel? Why would he just leave him there?”
Jonathan Butler, 73
Jonathan Butler’s body was recovered from Legacy eight months after his death.
His partner Kathryn Howard stopped several times to compose herself while reading her victim impact statement.
She said: “I feel like I’ve let John down – by choosing Legacy, by trusting Rob Bush.
Robert Bush
(Image: Humberside Police)
“I just can’t believe what that man has done. How can he hurt people like that? Would he do it to his own family, treat them this way?
“An apology would not be enough for me. It could never take away the pain and grief that I feel for enduring not one but two funerals for my lovely John. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Muriel Winning, 61
Muriel Winning’s body was recovered from Legacy seven months after her death.
Her son, Byron Lill, had already been given some ashes that he thought were those of his mother by Bush, and had them on his window sill.
Particular care was taken by the family to prepare Mrs Winning and dress her in her wedding dress.
Muriel Winning, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Ashes believed to be those of her mother, Pauline Campbell, who died in April 2022, were also found.
Mr Lill, who became emotional while reading his statement, said: “Mum believed in life after death and wanted to be dressed in her wedding dress when she died, in readiness for meeting with [her husband] David again.
“[My wife] Helen and I carried out her wishes and ensured she was dressed as she wanted … All this care was lost on Robert Bush.
“All the hard work and tireless care we willingly gave mum was for nothing. She protected us her whole life from mistreatment, and it feels that the one time I could repay her and protect her, I couldn’t. Bush took this away from me.”
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Raymond Dagnall, 64
Raymond Dagnall’s body was recovered from Legacy seven months after his death.
His family had scattered what they thought were Mr Dagnall’s ashes at Bridlington harbour, as a tribute to his work as a fisherman.
There had, in fact, been no cremation, despite Bush charging them for one.
Raymond Dagnall whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Mr Dagnall’s sister, Christina George, sobbed as she told the court: “No matter what people tell me, I still blame myself and I think I probably always will.
“Why hadn’t I taken him somewhere closer to where he lived or anywhere other than Legacy?
“Raymond was my brother. He didn’t deserve this. I will never forgive Bush for his neglect and complete lack of respect.
“I try and think of all the good memories I have of us growing up as children together, but I keep coming back in my mind to him laying forgotten on a rack.”
Colin Wainman, 69
Colin Wainman’s body was recovered from Legacy six months after his death.
His family said the ashes Bush initially gave them were in a cardboard box, inside a Hobbycraft bag, and he apologised for not having any of his gift bags left.
Colin Wainman, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
His daughter, Vikki Mitchell, later returned the ashes to Bush so that he could separate them out.
He had done four boxes of ashes when she had only asked for two, and the bag was so heavy to carry that she had to stop several times walking home.
Maureen Graham, 82
Maureen Graham’s body was recovered from Legacy six months after her death.
Her son, David Graham, could only afford an unattended service costing £970, after which he went to a crematorium and was presented with an “abnormally large urn” that he was told contained his mother’s ashes, which he then witnessed being scattered over the Garden of Remembrance.
Maureen Graham, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Her sister Sandra Spamer’s statement said: “I feel angry, heartbroken and a deep sense of injustice that a man in a trusted position would do this to families for his own gain.
“My sister wasn’t just a body, she was a loved family member. Knowing how she was treated has affected me deeply.”
Susan Gorbutt, 78
Susan Gorbutt’s body was recovered from Legacy six months after her death.
When her husband, David Gorbutt, collected what he thought were her ashes in September 2023, he was handed a plain paper bag containing a small cardboard box with Susan’s name.
He said: “I hope they’re the right ones.”
Bush replied: “Yes, they are definitely the right ones.”
Susan Gorbutt
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
In his victim impact statement, Mr Gorbutt said: “I feel sad and disappointed, but mostly guilty because I was unable to fulfil my wife’s last request, that I deal with her death quickly and arrange her cremation as quickly as possible at her request, because as Susan would say, ‘You know I do not like the cold’.
“This would have been her worst nightmare what happened to her, she did not like the idea of lying there or being retained at the premises as she was. I am emotional giving this statement, it upsets me to think about this.”
Shirley Wright, 86
Shirley Wright’s body was recovered from Legacy five months after her death.
When her daughter Jayne Rimmington collected the ashes in October 2023, she was surprised how heavy they were, but Bush said this was due to her “bone density”.
Ms Rimmington said: “I was told that a photograph of dogs was recovered with mum.
“This both shocked and upset me. Mum didn’t have any dogs, she didn’t even like them and we had not left any photographs with her.
Shirley Wright, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
“Not only had someone else’s property been placed with mum, which felt a violation in itself, but another family had given Bush this photograph to be with their loved one and they were left without it.”
Mark Hotham, 89
Mark Hotham’s body was recovered from Legacy five months after his death.
Debbie Keeting, his close friend and carer, became upset at his funeral and demanded to see inside the coffin.
She did not believe he was there because of how apparently light it was, but her family managed to calm her down and the funeral went ahead.
Mark Hotham, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Nigel Hotham, Mark’s nephew, said: “I can’t forgive [Bush] and don’t think I ever will. One mistake is perhaps forgivable but to mistreat so many people is a huge betrayal.
“This is not just an error of judgment.
“It feels like a determined effort to destroy so many lives. You are supposed to trust a funeral director.”
John Carlill, 77
John Carlill’s body was recovered from Legacy five months after his death.
His close friend John Banyard arranged for a direct cremation and £970 was paid from Mr Carlill’s estate.
Bush told Mr Banyard he could not attend the crematorium to see the coffin go from the hearse into the chapel, and that he would be “told off” if he did.
Mr Banyard’s statement said: “All of this has made me have a distrust in people now. If you can’t trust a funeral undertaker, who can you trust?
John Carlill, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
“How can someone be so callous, cold and calculated? Bush shook my hand and was saying ‘God bless’ to me.
“You let them take the stress to take some of it off you.
“What he said sounded good at the time, but then to be betrayed the way I have makes you lose faith in people.”
Joyce Moulton, 98
Joyce Moulton’s body was recovered five months after her death.
Her family tried contacting Bush several times after the funeral to arrange to get her ashes, but their phone calls and emails went unanswered.
They had not received her ashes by the time the police informed them what had happened.
Joyce Moulton, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police)
Mrs Moulton’s son, Ron Marsh, said: “What happened next to mum is unthinkable.
“You think you can put your faith in funeral directors, but it has knocked our trust in professionals, like doctors, undertakers and carers.
“I question if they are all as bad as one another, but that these just haven’t been caught yet.”
Terence Buck, 75
Terence Buck’s body was recovered from Legacy four months after his death.
Around a week after his funeral in November 2023, ashes were delivered to his daughter Sarah Gray by an unknown male employee in a personalised Liverpool Football Club burgundy box, which the family had bought.
Terence Buck
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Believing that these were her father’s ashes, she kept them at home until the police visited to tell her that his body was still at the funeral home.
Ms Gray’s statement read: “It’s heartbreaking to know the ashes we had cared for in our house weren’t my dad.
“I feel for the person whose ashes they are and the family of whoever those ashes belong to as they don’t have their loved one with them either.”
David Burton, 75
David Burton’s body was recovered from Legacy four months after his death.
When his granddaughter, Rea Burton, attended the funeral home to collect his ashes in December 2023, Bush didn’t know who she was, which offended her as he had asked her to attend at that time.
Bush said he would go and “dig him out” and, after a lot of rustling in the background, he appeared with a bag.
David Burton, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
After being told by Ms Burton that the family were having the ashes put into necklace charms and her uncle was going to have some put into ink for a tattoo, Bush responded that it was “a brilliant idea”.
Ms Burton said: “We had mistakenly placed our trust in Rob. He did not treat grandad with the dignity and respect he deserved.
“In reality, Rob had deceived us. He had abandoned and hidden our loved one for months and had given us a stranger’s ashes with a smile on his face.”
Audrey Leach, 97
Audrey Leach’s body was recovered from Legacy four months after her death.
Her daughter Suzanne Leach noted white flecks amongst the grey ashes that Bush gave her, and he said they may be remnants of the photographs that had been cremated with her.
Audrey Leach, whose body was recovered from Hessle Road
(Image: Humberside Police/PA Wire)
Mrs Leach’s granddaughter, Amy Leach, tearfully told the court: “I keep thinking, what if the initial cremation had gone ahead?
“We would never know if we were getting a person back or if we’d been conned with a handful of gravel.
“I know that we’re lucky that we know exactly where grandma was and exactly where she is now. Others don’t have that privilege and will never know.”