A funeral director has admitted leaving dozens of bodies without a lawful burial while stealing from charities and deceiving grieving families in a disturbing case that affected more than 300 victims.
Robert Bush, 48, pleaded guilty to 67 offenses at Hull Crown Court in northern England on Monday, July 28.
The charges included 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, as well as theft involving 12 charities.
Bush operated Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, where police launched a major investigation in March 2024 after multiple bodies were discovered inside the company’s funeral homes.
He was formally charged in April 2025.
Prosecutors initially accused Bush of 60 offenses connected to bodies recovered from the premises, two counts of stealing from charities, fraudulent trading involving prepaid funeral plans and fraud connected to human ashes.
The crimes stretched from May 2012 until March 2024 and reportedly affected more than 300 people.
Families delivered emotional statements in court describing how Bush’s actions deepened their grief and left them questioning what had happened to their loved ones.
One woman, identified as Kelly, said her mother, Sylvia Osler, died in 2023.
Kelly told the court that Bush was not at the funeral home when her family arrived for a scheduled viewing, forcing them to wait outside.
During another visit, she said Bush rushed the family out of the building by claiming another group was coming, despite several rooms appearing to be available.
When Kelly was finally allowed to see her mother, she noticed a bruise on her head that had not been there when she died.
Bush allegedly told her the injury had likely occurred during transportation.
Another grieving mother, Stacey Foster, described losing her son, Tommy Cooke, when she was 17 weeks pregnant.
She said the family later received ashes that weighed approximately twice as much as their baby, leaving them unsure whose remains they had actually been given.
“We were robbed of having our baby back with us and Tommy Cooke was robbed of his identity by the complete disrespect shown to Tommy and our situation by Robert Bush,” Foster told the court.
Karen King said her 94-year-old father, Norman Bridger, died in April 2023, but his body remained unburied long after the family believed his funeral had taken place.
“My lovely Dad lay in a cardboard coffin for almost 11 months,” King said. “It is beyond belief.”
She also described Bush’s expression during their interactions, saying, “The smile on his face … will always haunt me.”
The revelations emerged after police secured several Legacy Independent Funeral Directors locations in Hull during the 2024 investigation.
Bush’s crimes included failing to properly bury the dead, mishandling ashes, taking money from charities and misleading customers who had paid for funeral arrangements.
The sentencing hearing is expected to last five days as the court hears more details about the scale of the offenses and the devastation suffered by victims’ families.
