UK funeral director faces jail after 31 bodies found uncremated in Hull

A British funeral director faced prison on Monday after police found 31 bodies at his premises in Hull that should have been cremated months earlier.

Robert Bush, 48, previously pleaded guilty to 67 offences committed over 12 years and affecting hundreds of victims. The charges included preventing lawful and decent burial, theft and fraud.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton told Hull Crown Court at the start of a five-day sentencing hearing that officers found the bodies in cold storage.

They included a stillborn baby whose remains had been kept at the premises for almost two years. Police also discovered more than 100 sets of ashes.

Paxton said a former employee had described the funeral parlour as a “horror scene”.

Bodies were stored on racks on both sides of a room, with most uncovered and in varying states of decomposition, he said.

Bush operated Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.

Paxton said bereaved families had trusted Bush, but he had mistreated them on an “almost industrial scale”.

Bush told police during his first interview that the business had developed cash-flow problems because customers did not always pay. He said he had debts of about £90,000.

Paxton rejected financial difficulties as an explanation, saying more than £3 million had been paid into the business between March 2017 and April 2024 and that carrying out a cremation cost £500.

“Mr Bush chose not to deal with those bodies entrusted to him but to operate as he chose and spend the money on himself and others,” Paxton said.

He alleged that Bush had engaged in “profligate personal spending”.

Jasmine Beverley, whose son Sunny was stillborn in May 2022, told BBC radio that Bush had appeared respectful while arranging the funeral.

She said she later learned that Sunny’s remains had been found in a brown envelope on the floor, despite her believing that he had been cremated.

“I discovered that he was still in there almost two years after we'd had the funeral,” she said.

Police began investigating in March 2024 after receiving information raising concerns about deceased people at the business.

The body of Muriel Winning, who died aged 61 in 2023, was found at the premises seven and a half months after her death.

Her son Byron Lill repeatedly broke down while reading a statement to the court about the impact on him.

“I work close to the Legacy premises... and drive past it every day. Knowing now that mum was lying inside for almost eight months destroys me,” he said.

The sentencing hearing is expected to include statements from more than 100 victims.

Four of the fraud charges involved falsely presenting ashes to women as the remains of their unborn children.

Beverley, her husband and other affected families are campaigning for tighter regulation of funeral parlours, with support from several lawmakers.

Funeral directors in England and Wales can operate without a licence, while Scotland introduced a statutory Funeral Director Code of Practice in March.