Funeral director spent thousands on holidays as he betrayed families

A FUNERAL director whose parlour was a “horror scene” and who gave the wrong ashes to dozens of grieving relatives splashed out tens of thousands of pounds on holidays, motorbikes, restaurants and home improvements.

Robert Bush who is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court for 67 offences, spent £42,000 on holidays to America, Italy and Centerparcs over a seven-year period to 2024.

On one trip to Meadowhall in 2019 he spent £790, he spent £1,000 at the jewellers Boodles on 2018 and £246 dining at Clos Maggiore, a French restaurant in Covent Garden. Another £17,411 went on home improvements and he spent £21,000 on motorbikes, with a total of £21,644 also going on “camping-related” activities.

In total, £95,000 was spent on what the judge, Mr Justice Hilliard said, could be described as “non essentials”.

Bush, 48, formerly of Kirk Ella, East Yorkshire, has admitted charges including preventing a lawful and decent burial, fraud, fraudulent trading, and stealing cash donations intended for a dozen charities.

On the third day of his sentencing hearing, Hull Crown Court heard it was difficult to know how much had been spent as his recordkeeping “left much to be desired”.

The court previously heard that Bush claimed he was in debt to the tune of £90,000 and he had cashflow problems.

He declared earnings of an average of just £13,436 a year to HMRC, when in fact some £162,000 a year were going into his personal accounts.

Over the seven years Bush transferred £369,612, an average of £52,802 a year, to his wife Vicky.

Yesterday the court also heard more details about donations stolen from charities.

Police estimate that Bush stole between £5,000 and £13,500 from charities including RNLI, Help for Heroes and the Salvation Army.

Richard Wright KC, defending, addressed the court after prosecutors said Bush should face between 20 and 25 years in prison for multiple charges of preventing lawful burials, fraud and theft.

He said Bush had written to the court to apologise “without qualification” but accepted this “is likely to be angrily rejected as some late attempt to gain some trifling advantage”.

He told the court: “There are demands for answers – where did the money go, why did he do it? They are all very good questions. Questions assume there are good answers or clear explanations that explain his behaviour. Greed, incompetence, the passage of time, an inability to keep up with his own failings.

“We submit all of these are likely to have played a part, though none satisfactorily answers the questions.”

He said Bush, who ran Legacy funeral directors on Hessle Road, Hull, was not engaging in the “high living” often seen in cases of fraud, but added: “There is no doubt his priority was not his customers or their loved ones, and that lack of priority may be the best explanation there is.

"He prioritised himself, his family and his interests over those who entrusted the deceased to his care.”