Grieving family members confronted 48-year-old funeral director Robert Bush at Hull Crown Court as he faces sentencing for 67 offenses involving the neglect of dozens of deceased individuals and widespread fraud spanning 12 years.
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told the court that Bush accumulated £86,868 through a systematic fraud where he kept 31 bodies at his Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises while lying to families that their loved ones had been cremated and handing them fake ashes.
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Victims Share Heartbreaking Testimonies
Among those testifying, Jasmine Beverley recalled choosing Bush's firm after her son, Sunny Beverley-Conlin, was born sleeping on May 13, 2022.
She trusted him because she had previously used his services for her late father's funeral.
"My son Sunny was born sleeping, but he was loved long before he entered this world and he will be loved for the rest of my life," Beverley said.
Beverley described how she and her partner visited Sunny at the chapel on June 16, held a small service the following day, and later collected what Bush claimed were his ashes in an envelope inside a little blue coffin on March 30, 2023.
"When a parent loses a baby, all they hope for is that their child will be treated with dignity, care and respect," Beverley said.
Police officers eventually recovered Sunny's remains almost two years after his birth, finding his body stored inside a brown paper bag left on the floor of the funeral home.
