CPS to target assets of jailed funeral director

A disgraced ceremonial director's slope accounts and assets person been frozen, arsenic prosecutors question to retrieve currency fleeced from his victims.

Robert Bush was jailed for 20 years astatine Hull Crown Court connected Friday for 67 offences, including denying 30 radical a decent and due burial and giving families the ashes of strangers.

Bush, 48, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors successful Hull, stole up to £12,000 from charities and sold fake ceremonial plans.

Laura Tams KC, lawman main crown authoritative astatine the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "We volition beryllium looking astatine him, astatine the fiscal aspects of this case, to spot if we tin confiscate immoderate of the proceeds of his crimes and effort to compensate the families."

Sentencing Bush pursuing a five-day hearing, Mr Justice Hilliard said it was wide that helium "benefited precise substantially" and "obviously lived precise well".

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Tams said it "was not a lawsuit of idiosyncratic that had precocious fallen connected hard times".

She added: "I deliberation the standard of the offending, the magnitude of clip it had gone connected for, showed that truly this had go thing of his concern model."

Bush's litany of crimes included leaving the remains of a stillborn babe connected the floor for 2 years and giving the grieving parents the incorrect ashes, the tribunal heard.

In court, barrister Richard Wright KC said his client, who admitted the charges, was a antheral of erstwhile bully quality who had "lost his bully sanction and his livelihood".

Wright said "greed, incompetence and an inability to support up with his ain failings" had each played a portion successful his crimes.

In constabulary interviews, Bush – whose ceremonial parlour was recovered successful a authorities of chaos erstwhile officers raided it – told however debts had accrued, leaving him incapable to wage for cremations.

Yet successful court, it emerged that Bush took £162,000 a twelvemonth for himself and transferred an mean of £52,000 a twelvemonth to his wife.

Several 1000 pounds a twelvemonth were spent connected holidays, flights and hotels, records show.

Between 2017 and 2024, the total magnitude of money paid into some Legacy and Bush's idiosyncratic accounts was much than £3.5m.

Until helium moved to an code successful Otley, West Yorkshire, arsenic portion of his bail conditions, Bush lived successful an affluent portion of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

He enjoyed motorcycle racing and was arrested astatine Heathrow Airport aft a vacation successful the United States.

Describing it arsenic a "shocking" case, with "really superior breaches of trust", Tams said much than 13,000 pages of prosecution grounds had been compiled.

Families had been misled by Bush since 2012, investigators found.

Besides the nonaccomplishment to cremate bodies placed successful his care, it became evident determination were "much wider aspects" of Bush's offending, said Tams.

"He was fraudulently trading successful ceremonial plans erstwhile helium wasn't authorised to bash so, and determination was implicit 200 radical that were affected by that.

"They thought that they were investing successful their aboriginal ceremonial care, they thought that helium [Bush] would person been investing that wealth with fiscal institutions. But, successful fact, helium had kept that wealth for his ain purposes."

Tams said the CPS's precedence passim had been to guarantee it built a "robust" lawsuit that showed the afloat grade of Bush's offending "so that the families could get justice".

A full of 12 charities had mislaid money, the tribunal heard.

"Families had near donations that they wanted to spell to charitable causes connected behalf of their loved ones," said Tams. "And connected 12 occasions that we cognize of, that wealth was not received by the charities."

Prosecutors were incapable to accidental precisely however overmuch wealth Bush had stolen from foundation postulation boxes implicit a play of six years and six months, but the tribunal was told they enactment the fig astatine betwixt £5,540 and £12,000.

Some of the families progressive successful the lawsuit person called for regulation of the ceremonial industry.

Tams said the lawsuit had "uncovered truly superior and cardinal flaws" successful the industry.

"The information that his concern had been capable to tally successful this mode for truthful galore years and near unidentified is profoundly troubling," she said.

Watch the communicative of Robert Bush and Legacy ceremonial directors successful a caller programme connected BBC iPlayer.

If you person been affected by issues surrounding bereavement, accusation is disposable via BBC Action Line, including interaction details of organisations that tin help.