Funeral director accused of leaving baby’s remains on floor for nearly two years. Robert Bush

A former funeral director has been accused of leaving the remains of a stillborn baby on the floor of a funeral parlour for almost two years, while grieving parents were allegedly given the wrong ashes.

Hull Crown Court heard that Robert Bush, the former owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, has admitted 67 offences, including failing to properly bury or cremate bodies entrusted to his care.

The court was told that the remains of Sunny-Beverley Conlin, who was stillborn in May 2022, were discovered in a brown paper bag on the floor of the Hessle Road funeral home in March 2024.

Sunny’s mother, Jasmine Beverley, told the court that the discovery had caused lifelong trauma and that she had trusted Bush with “the most precious person” in her life.

The sentencing hearing has heard that police recovered 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes from the funeral business after an investigation began in 2024. Prosecutors say families were falsely told their loved ones had been cremated or buried, and in many cases were given the ashes of other people.

Several other families gave emotional victim impact statements describing how they later discovered the ashes they received did not belong to their babies or relatives. One mother said she had been left with “nothing but an empty bag” after learning the remains she was given were not her child’s.

Prosecutors also allege that Bush defrauded families who paid for funeral plans, with the total value of the fraud said to exceed £550,000 over an 11-year period.

The court heard that many of the bodies found at the funeral parlour were uncovered and in varying states of decomposition, with the premises described as dirty and poorly maintained.

Bush, 48, was arrested at Heathrow Airport after police were alerted to concerns by two other funeral directors while he was on holiday abroad.

The sentencing hearing is continuing and is expected to last several days.