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A British funeral director faced a possible prison sentence on Monday over a scandal that saw bodies left “stored on racks” and uncremated, while relatives were given other people’s ashes, prompting calls for tighter regulation of the funeral industry.
After receiving a tip-off, police searched the premises of Robert Bush’s funeral home and found 31 bodies in cold storage that should have been cremated months earlier, including a stillborn baby whose body had been there for nearly two years.
They also found more than 100 sets of ashes.
“There were bodies stored on the racks on both sides of the room,” the lawyer said at Hull Crown Court in northeast England.
“The vast majority were uncovered and in varying states of decomposition,” he added.
In his first police interview, Bush said he had run into cash-flow problems because “people did not always pay” and that he had debts of about £90,000 (€104,000).
He said he struggled to keep up with lease payments and believed there were about 30 bodies at one of his funeral homes, five or six of them “recent” and awaiting cremation. However, the prosecutor rejected financial difficulties as an explanation for what had happened.
More than £3 million (€3.5 million) was paid into the business between March 2017 and April 2024, while each cremation cost about £500 (€580), prosecutor Richard Paxton said.
“Mr Bush chose not to deal with those bodies entrusted to him but to operate as he chose and spend the money on himself and others,” he said, adding that Bush had indulged in “profligate personal spending”.
UK funeral laws under scrutiny
The case has also renewed scrutiny of funeral industry regulation. In England and Wales, funeral directors can operate without a licence, while anyone is free to set up a funeral business.
Scotland introduced a statutory Funeral Director Code of Practice in March 2025.
Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, was trusted by bereaved families but mistreated them on an “almost industrial scale,” Paxton said.
Police launched an investigation in March 2024 after receiving a tip-off over concerns for “the deceased” at the funeral home.
More than 100 victims are expected to deliver statements during the sentencing hearing.
Bush has admitted dozens of charges, including preventing lawful and decent burial, theft and fraud. Four of the fraud charges relate to falsely presenting ashes to women as the remains of their unborn children.