Hull funeral director: 'Bush always said: 'Bless you' but what he did was pure evil'

Many of the relatives told the court how empathetic and personable Robert Bush seemed – adding yet another layer to the difficulty in trying to understand how he could do such evil things.

Jayne Rimmington told Hull Crown Court of the ongoing difficulties she has with processing what has happened to her mother - and her ongoing sense of guilt.

Shirley Wright died at the age of 86 in 2023 and Bush "seemed such a pleasant and and empathetic man" when it came to organising the funeral, something she had never had to do before.

She told the court that Bush’s constant use of the phrase: "Bless you" had seemed endearing.

"He had offered teas and coffee after the funeral and included flowers in the price he was charging.

"We had no reason to question anything."

They were away on holiday when they found out that instead of having been cremated as they'd believed - they'd collected her ashes - she was still in the mortuary six months later.

There was a photograph of dogs with her mother - yet her mother never had dogs as pets and didn't like them.

This felt like a "violation" and meant another deceased person had been left without something which meant a lot to them. Looking back she recalled that when she picked up her mother’s ashes there was a 30-minute delay, and when she was handed the box she was surprised how heavy they were.

She said "Even when I collected what I believed to be mum's ashes, I trusted him. I believed his excuses.

"There never should have been a 30 minute wait for him to bring them to me. What had he been doing?

"When I questioned why they were so heavy when mum was so small, he said it must be her bone density.

"Again, I didn't question it. I accepted what he said. I trusted him. He stood there smiling, handing me the box, when she was still laying there, rotting away!

"It's a purely evil thing to do. I know a body is only a vessel and the spirit is gone, but she is still my mum. They were the hands I held and the face I kissed.

"He betrayed her and he betrayed our trust."

They had a second funeral, but it brought little relief. "I have been depressed but I feel I have to soldier on. Time is supposed to heal, but my only way of coping is not to think of mum.

"My happy memories are over-ridden with horror."

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.”

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.”