Left bodies to rot and handed out fake ashes: the sentence of the 'funeral home from hell' manager

Robert Bush, a British funeral home director, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting to 67 charges of crimes committed over 12 years: he hid bodies, stole donations, and gave fake ashes to 50 families. The police uncovered the case in March 2024 and found bodies in a state of decay. Bush defrauded 172 people of £562,000.

Robert Bush, a 48-year-old funeral home director from Britain, was sentenced yesterday (Friday) to 20 years in prison at the court in Hull, northeast England. He admitted to 67 charges related to crimes committed over 12 years at his business, 'Legacy Independent Funeral Directors.' During the five-day trial, more than 200 victims described the devastation he caused. Bush hid bodies in a warehouse, stole donation money, and gave 50 families urns containing the ashes of strangers. Jasmine Beverley, whose son Sonny was stillborn in May 2022, received an urn with fake ashes, while the real ashes were found in a brown paper bag on the floor of the funeral home. The case came to light in March 2024, after an employee of Bush let slip that bodies had been held at the premises 'for years.' Police found bodies in various stages of decomposition and a naked body on a stretcher. Bush defrauded 172 people of a total of £562,000, partly by selling fictitious funeral plans and collecting cash donations for himself.