Fraudulent Yorkshire funeral director Robert Bush was mixing up people’s ashes and using them as a communal store he could dip into when chased by grieving relatives, the officer in charge of the case said.
When police raided Hull-based Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March 2024, they found some ashes that were in sealed vessels, but others that had been opened.
Detective Superintendent Alan Curtis told the Press Association that while Bush has never given an explanation for this, there was evidence of ashes being mixed.
A court artist drawing of funeral director Robert Bush appearing at Hull Crown Court for sentencing on 30 counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body and one count of theft from 12 charities
(Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)
It appears he was using a store of these to give to bereaved families when they asked for ashes, falsely presenting them as those of their loved one.
Mr Curtis said: “Certainly from some of the stories that families have told us about pressuring him for their loved one’s ashes to be given back, he would go into the back and get some ashes and then present them as if it was their loved ones.
“So there was definitely evidence of that happening.
“We know that was the case, although he’s never said as much in interview, because he’s always no-commented on anything we asked him about the ashes, apart from confirming that they were human.”
Throughout the investigation, the fraudster refused to answer questions about the remains found at his funeral home, and police said his motive remains a mystery to everyone except himself.
Funeral director Robert Bush, centre, arrives at Hull Crown Court for sentencing
(Image: Annabel Lee-Ellis/PA Wire)
Mr Curtis said that despite being interviewed numerous times, Bush has “never given an account as to really why this has all happened, or any kind of remorse”.
While initially coming across as “quite helpful” and willing to answer officers’ questions generally, Bush always refused to answer “difficult questions”, particularly about the ashes.
Mr Curtis said: “I know one of my officers noted that he is a lot more shrewd than he was portraying, certainly in interviews.
“I think he liked to come across as quite a scatty, poor, difficult, bad businessman when actually I think the reality is that he knew exactly what was going on and he’s committed all these offences and only someone that’s quite intelligent and smart and shrewd and deceitful would be able to commit those.”
He said the only person who knew his motive was “Robert Bush himself”.
He added: “Yes, Robert Bush was in debt. Yes, there’s a financial aspect of this as well, but as a normal person, morally and ethically, I can’t see how anyone could have committed any of these offences and have any justification or reason behind that at all.
“So the only person I think that can answer that question is Robert Bush.”
When police were called to the funeral home in 2024, they found 31 bodies that should have been cremated and 186 sets of ashes.
Mr Curtis told the Press Association that Legacy’s premises was “a tale of two halves”, with a neat and tidy public area but “incredibly disorganised” in the back.
On finding the refrigeration area where the bodies were kept, he said: “It was just very sad. I can remember being stood there, just being incredibly sad and knowing that all of the people inside here, we would have to go out and find their loved ones and re-traumatise them when we tell them that their loved ones are still within the property when actually they think that they’ve been cremated.”
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Perhaps the most shocking find was that among the bodies was that of stillborn baby Sunny Beverley-Conlin.
Mr Curtis said: “Sunny had been in there longer than anyone else, close to two years.
“So it was disturbing. It was harrowing as well. We would never expect to come across anything like that.”
Investigators found that families of some of the deceased being stored at Legacy had already been given ashes, and it soon became clear Bush was fraudulently giving ashes to families that weren’t their loved ones.
Mr Curtis said: “I think if we’d have gone in there six months before, we might have seen a similar scene, but maybe with different people that had been involved.”
He told PA: “I can remember when we went out to one family in particular, and we spoke to one of the loved ones, when we approached him and said that we had found his deceased wife at Legacy.
“He said, ‘Well, if she’s there, who have I been talking to on my shelf morning and night for the past six months?’
“The trauma this has caused people, you just cannot comprehend it.”
The investigation has been the largest in Humberside Police’s history, and even involved liaising with the FBI about a similar case in America.
Mr Curtis said that while more than 300 victims had been identified as part of the investigation, the true number could never be known, and anyone who had ever trusted Bush with their loved one’s remains would be left with doubts.
A helpline for potential victims set up in the wake of the discoveries at Legacy received 2,000 calls from people who thought their loved ones’ remains might be affected.
Mr Curtis said: “We’ve got a certain number of formal victims, but actually, the amount of people that’s been affected, you can’t even put a number on because there’s not anyone in the city or surrounding areas that hasn’t been affected or touched by this or have concerns potentially over what may or may not have happened with a loved one in the past.”
Mr Curtis described Bush’s crimes as “abhorrent”, adding: “I’ve never come across anything in my whole career as a police officer, or even as a senior investigating officer, dealing with serious and major incidents, anything like this before.
“How he dealt with the remains of people’s loved ones, ashes, the frauds that he committed around funeral plans, the theft of charitable donations.
“You cannot comprehend any logical reason why someone would have done that.
“It just shows a complete lack of empathy, compassion, for people.”