Robert Bush: How victims of Legacy Independent Directors were cruelly deceived

Until the evening of March 8 2024, when two shaken undertakers flagged down a police car outside the Legacy funeral parlour in Hull, Robert Bush had a reputation for being "friendly and professional" - even "one of the best".

Many of those he deceived so cruelly recall how the mild-mannered funeral director would often say "God bless" or "Bless you" to his grieving clients, expressions they found endearing at the time. "Slightly awkward, and a little bit ditsy, he still came across as someone who cared," said the daughter of a woman, whose remains he was entrusted with. But behind his kindly features lay a shocking immorality, that appeared to put greed ahead of any other consideration. When officers arrested him in front of passengers on a plane which had just landed at Heathrow, following a holiday with his daughter Saskia to Arizona, he realised the game was up. "I've f***ed it all up, everything, my whole world," the 48-year-old told officers. And what was that world? As his defence barrister Richard Wright KC put it, and analysis of his finances by investigators confirms, he "prioritised himself, his family and his interests over those who entrusted the deceased to his care". Legacy Independent Directors, established in 2010, offered a range of funeral options, including "direct" cremations, for around £970. Situated on Hessle Road, it was a place of choice for many from the tight-knit community, who live on in what used to be the beating heart of Hull’s deep-sea trawling industry. Some had their suspicions when they noticed the battered, cheap-looking coffins at funerals at the chapel on Legacy's premises, the plaques which weren't screwed properly down, loved ones' remains not being presented in the clothes people had bought in and an unpleasant smell. But no one could imagine the horrific scenes that lay behind closed doors, yards from busy Hessle Road. Police found 30 bodies, mostly unclothed, and in varying stages of decomposition, stored on racks in the "extremely dirty" cold room months after they should have been cremated. They were, as forensic scientist and former funeral director Dr Richard Lloyd put it, "simply abandoned.. for nature to take its course." Many still bore hospital identity bracelets and hospital equipment remained in situ. Flowers, rings, teddies and cards with messages - personal effects meant to stay with the deceased - were on the floor or swept to the back of the room. What appeared to be human ash was later found on desk surfaces, in empty and unidentified boxes, and in one room "strewn across the floor". But what shocked seasoned scenes of crime investigators most was a brown paper bag on the floor, which was found to contain a human foetus, still with two hospital wristbands round his waist. CSI supervisor Colin Jordan said: "The find had a profound effect on me and the whole team. This was by far the most upsetting part of the operation and still affects me now." It turned out that among Bush's many heinous crimes he'd given four grieving women the wrong ashes for their unborn babies. Sunny's mum Jasmine Beverley said losing her son at 18 weeks old, had been the most devastating experience of her life. Bush had "taken away something that never can be replaced, the peace of believing our loved ones were treated with care and respect after death". She was given what purported to be his ashes the previous June. She told Hull Crown Court: "I have to live with the fact that my son was kept for so long without my knowledge, and that when he was eventually found he was in brown paper bag on the floor. As a mother, that is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life." Katie Woolston, who was given the wrong ashes for her unborn child, asked: " I often wonder where my baby's remains are, if they ever made it back to the Legacy funeral home, or if they were simply disposed of like a piece of litter, and those thoughts break my heart.” Nearly 200 witness impact statements were read to the court, expressing pain, outrage and anger. It proved yet another ordeal for many reliving their trauma, some needing a consoling arm from a support worker in the dock. Jayne Rimmington discovered that the body of her mum Shirley Wright was still in the funeral parlour six months after they'd collected "her" ashes. She'd been worried that they seemed heavy when her mum was so small. Bush told her 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." Analysis of his spending showed Bush 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, £1,000 at the jewellers Boodles in 2018 and £246 dining at Clos Maggiore, a fashionable French restaurant in Covent Garden. Another £17,411 went on home improvements and £21,000 on motorbikes over the seven years, and another £21,644 going on “camping-related” activities. However as far as the taxman was concerned, he wasn't earning much - he declared just £13,436 a year on average. When arrested he told police he had debts of £90,000, a large chunk of which turned out to be owed to Hull Council. However some £162,000 a year had gone into his personal accounts. The court also heard he transferred £369,612, an average of £52,802 a year, to his wife Vicky. As Mr Justice Hilliard commented during the case: "There's a lot of money that's gone somewhere." Where it all went may never be known, or the true scale of his offending as there were many more cases police were unable to proceed with through lack of evidence. What's certain is the greed of Robert Bush - which extended to taking money for funeral plans without making any of the arrangements and stealing cash from donation boxes at funerals.

Police estimate he stole between £5,000 and £13,500 from charities including RNLI, Help for Heroes and the Salvation Army. Again and again over the course of this week the question was asked: Why? Bush's KC Richard Wright suggested: "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.”