A British funeral director is facing a possible prison sentence after a disturbing case in which bodies were allegedly left without cremation while grieving families were given ashes belonging to other people, prompting renewed demands for tighter oversight of the funeral industry.
At the beginning of a five-day sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutor Chris Paxton told Hull Crown Court that a former employee described Robert Bush’s funeral home as resembling “a scene from a horror film.”
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Authorities discovered 31 bodies inside a refrigerated storage area at Bush’s premises after police received a report and carried out a search. The bodies, which should have been cremated months earlier, included that of a stillborn baby who had remained there for nearly two years.
Investigators also recovered more than 100 containers of ashes from the funeral home.
“There were bodies placed on racks on both sides of the room,” Paxton told the court.
He added that most of the bodies were left uncovered and were in different stages of decomposition.
The 48-year-old funeral director had earlier pleaded guilty to 67 offences committed over a 12-year period, affecting hundreds of bereaved families.
Jasmine Beverley, whose stillborn son Sunny died in May 2022, said Bush initially appeared trustworthy and presented himself as a compassionate and respectful funeral director.
Speaking on BBC radio, she said she was devastated after discovering what had happened behind the doors of the funeral home. Beverley said she believed her son had already been cremated, only to later learn that his remains were found inside a brown envelope on the floor of the premises.
She described discovering that Sunny had remained there for almost two years after the funeral as deeply distressing.
Beverley, alongside her husband and other affected families, is now campaigning for stricter regulations governing funeral homes.
Paxton told the court that Bush, who operated Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, gained the confidence of grieving families but later betrayed that trust on what he described as an “industrial scale.”
Police launched an investigation in March 2024 after receiving concerns about the treatment of deceased individuals at the funeral business.
During the sentencing hearing, more than 100 victims are expected to provide statements detailing the impact of the case on their families.
Bush has admitted multiple offences, including preventing lawful and decent burial, theft, and fraud.
Four fraud charges involved claims that he falsely provided ashes to women while presenting them as the remains of their unborn children.
AFP
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