Robert Bush jailed for 20 years over funeral abuses

British funeral director Robert Bush was jailed for 20 years on Friday after a court heard that bodies were stored for months in undignified conditions and relatives were given other people’s ashes.

Bush, 48, ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, northeastern England, for more than 12 years. He pleaded guilty to 67 offences and will serve at least half of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard said Bush had offended on an “industrial scale” and caused “anguish and pain” beyond comprehension. The judge rejected Bush’s claim that he had not cremated bodies because of cash flow problems and said Bush acted out of “financial greed.”

Police searched the premises after a tip-off in 2024 and found 31 bodies in a cold storage area that should have been cremated months earlier, including a stillborn baby that had been there for almost two years. Hilliard said most of the bodies were uncovered and on racks, and described conditions as “dreadful.”

Police also found more than 100 sets of ashes and determined there were at least 46 cases where relatives were given the wrong ashes. The judge said many families had been left with nothing of their loved ones’ remains, in some cases only an empty plastic bag or a small amount of ashes recovered by police.

The court heard that Bush stole thousands of pounds in donations to 12 charities collected at funeral services. Police superintendent Alan Curtis said after sentencing that Bush was heavily in debt and a poor businessman whose treatment of people revealed a questionable moral and ethical compass.

The case has prompted calls for stricter regulation of the funeral industry. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he backed greater regulation and said the case needed a proper response. Undertakers in England and Wales can operate without a licence.

Some relatives criticised the sentence. Jackie Groizard, who believes she was given the wrong ashes of her mother-in-law, said it was “not long enough.” Joanne Moody, whose father was one of the bodies found at the parlour, told the Press Association news agency the sentence was “atrocious.”