Robert Bush: Legacy funeral boss ‘left baby’s remains on floor for two years’

Bush’s fraudulent activity was laid out to the court, detailing how he gave 46 families the wrong ashes and 11 were given nothing at all.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said the total monetary value of the fraud was £86,868 and that Bush had conned 226 people who paid him for funeral plans, pocketing more than £550,000 over an 11-year period.

Among the victims was Shelley Chearman, who lost her husband Alan.

She told Bush: “You fooled a lot of people in Hull with your mild manner, when in fact you are a cruel conman. You use people’s grief to fund your lifestyle.”

Outlining the case on Monday, Paxton told the court bodies had been discovered “on the racks” of a cold storage area and one was found on a stretcher on the floor.

The vast majority were “uncovered and in varying states of decomposition” and the funeral home was “dirty and unkempt”.

The 48-year-old’s crimes were discovered by chance while he was on holiday, after two funeral directors tipped off police.

Bush, of Otley, West Yorkshire, was arrested when he landed at Heathrow Airport days later and told police he had debts of about £90,000, Paxton said.

The hearing continues.

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