By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-07-30 12:46:31 | Updated at 2026-07-30 14:02:23
1 hour ago
Crooked funeral director Robert Bush ripped off vulnerable pensioners by selling fraudulent funeral plans and stole savings they could not afford to lose.
Hull Crown Court heard this morning that Robert Bush, 48, defrauded 226 people by charging them for funeral plans he was not authorised to set up, and kept the money, which amounted to more than half a million pounds over almost 12 years.
This is the fourth day of a five-day sentence in which Bush is to be sentenced for 67 offences spanning 12 years and affecting hundreds of victims at his business, Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.
Bush breached the trust placed in him by grieving families "on an almost industrial scale", by keeping bodies for months after they should have been cremated, giving out the wrong ashes, taking money for funeral plans without making any of the arrangements, and stealing charity donations collected at services.
The investigation began in March 2024 and in April this year, the disgraced funeral director pleaded guilty to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial and theft from the 12 charities.
He had already admitted 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to bodies found at the site, and four "foetus allegations" of fraud, where he presented ashes to women falsely saying that they were "the remains of their unborn".
Bush also pleaded guilty to a further charge of fraud, covering the ashes of 57 people between 2017 and 2024, and one of fraudulent trading relating to funeral plans between 2012 and 2024.
He has been sat with his head lowered in the dock at Hull Crown Court on each day of the sentencing, listening to the statements read out by his victims in court, with no choice but to hear their accounts of stress and horror.
Prosecutors today read out dozens of victim personal statements of some of the people who had lost their money to his fraudulent funeral plans. Many of them described how Bush appeared trustworthy and caring, with Maxine Hill, whose parents lost £2,649 each to Bush, saying "you would think butter wouldn't melt in his mouth".
Many of the families paid with their life savings, with some paying in cash and being unable to recoup their losses from the bank, and are now unable to afford another funeral plan, with some saying they also now do not know who to trust with their final wishes.
Lisa Baldwin said her family would speak to her father's ashes, which were placed in a wardrobe surrounded by mementoes after being returned by Robert Bush, as part of their "daily routine".
But, on finding out the ashes may not have belonged to her dad, she tells the court that comfort was "violently taken from us".
Footage of Robert Bush's arrest
YORKSHIRE POLICE
In a victim impact statement, she said: "Mr Bush displayed both an air of arrogance and power in denying me the opportunity to see my dad after his passing. Three times he denied me this, which I now understand was because my dad was not at rest in his beloved Beverley, but somewhere else entirely.
Her purchase of funeral plans with Legacy that turned out to be fraudulent has deeply affected her mother, who "dreads the thought" of leaving additional financial burden.
She carries "a deep sense of guilt" over Bush's actions, and added: "I was the one who went and purchased the funeral plans on their behalf. I was hoodwinked, made to feel foolish by someone I trusted."
Anne Hillerby said Bush had charged her "around £5,000" for two funeral plans but offered to "knock off £100 for paying in cash".
Her statement read: "We have since found out the plans are not in place and I have not received a refund due to paying in cash.
"Robert Bush has ripped off so many vulnerable people. I can’t believe he could do this to people.
"He has used lower prices to get the customers in then ripped them off."
Several victims said they had other savings and the plans had been intended as a safety net to save their children from worrying about their funeral costs.
Jean Hunter said: "That money was a lot for me, and he knew this because he agreed for me to pay it as and when I could afford it."
A statement from Alma Hunter said: "It is so unfair that I have lost such a substantial amount of money that I couldn’t afford to lose.
"Robert Bush preyed on innocent and vulnerable people, devastating lives and causing a huge amount of distress, not only to me but to my siblings that he also stole from in a despicable, and utterly shameful way."
Footage of Robert Bush being interviewed by police
YORKSHIRE POLICE
Carol Grantley said finding out his funeral plan was not valid gave her uncle "a real fear of dying".She said: "Patrick was not a wealthy man. He only took the plan out in the first place because he had come into some extra money from an insurance policy that had matured, and he thought he should cover the cost of his funeral with it before he spent it all."Christina Minett-Stevens worked with Robert Bush in her capacity as a vicar and said she found him to be "professional and empathetic" and added: "It was an even bigger shock to find he defrauded me and others with funeral plan frauds, to find out it had been deliberate over many years was hard to take."I felt personally sick when I realised he had lied to my face and taken my money with no intention of setting up a funeral plan."
She added that she paid Bush £3,451 and has received no refund. Barbara Mould said: "I'm angry at myself for being taken in, I thought everything was in order, I cannot believe this has happened, I feel aggrieved.
"Mr Bush is a conman and so good at it, he came across as kind and caring person, his behaviour has been disgraceful."
Wrapping up the case, the prosecution also read statements today from Humberside Police officers who discovered 35 bodies in varying states of decay at the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors.
Prosecutor Steven Ball says it had a "profound impact on the police investigators who were specially trained to undertake this work".
A statement written by Chief Superintendent Supervisor Colin Jordan said the operation at Hessle Road on 8 March 2024 - when human remains were uncovered.Finding Jasmine Beverley’s baby, who had been left in a paper bag at Legacy for two years, was been described as the most upsetting part of the investigation.
Chief Superintendent Supervisor Colin Jordan said: "I find it difficult to put into words the indignity afforded to both those recovered and their families, but more so, the indignity afforded this foetus.
"When it upsets seasoned professionals, with many years of experience in the field of body recoveries, it is clear just how bad the conditions were."
Sergeant Jason Sutcliffe was among the officers who attended the funeral parlour on that day.
He said: "I class myself as a resilient person. Finding the foetus will never leave my thoughts, and I was disgusted and deeply saddened.
"I am due to retire from the police shortly, and I can honestly say that this was probably the worst experience of my career."
Bush's victims issued a statement outside the court
GB NEWS/PA
James Milligan is the Humberside Police force lead for chemical, radiation and hazardous material and his statement was read to court.
He was deployed to Legacy in March 2024 with a team of five officers.
In his statement, he recalls his team's reaction when they discovered the remains of Jasmine Beverley's baby in a bag.
He said: "I remember one of the team saying ‘is this what I think it is? We were all looking at each other in all I can describe as disbelief."
He says the situation "knocked the wind out of my sails" for one of the first times in his life, and added: "The mood within the team became quite dark, even angry."
Earlier in the week, the court heard that Robert Bush accepts he is "hated and despised" as a "pariah" and has apologised to the families left devastated by his mistreatment of their deceased loved ones.
Prosecutors said the 48-year-old should face between 20 and 25 years in prison for multiple charges of preventing lawful burials, fraud and theft.
Richard Wright KC, defending Bush, told the judge: "He has expressed himself to the court, and through the court to the families, as being sorry."
He added that his client accepted his apology "is likely to be angrily rejected" by those relatives.
Watched by many of those families, Mr Wright said: "This offending has caused extreme emotional pain, anguish and upset on a scale that it is difficult to comprehend."
Judge Mr Justice Hilliard ended proceedings at Hull Crown Court this afternoon and will sentence Robert Bush from 12pm tomorrow.
