How Legacy funeral boss Robert Bush exploited the vulnerable

Tristan Essex says his memories of his nana, Jessie Stockdale, are "tainted" after Robert Bush kept her body for five months after her funeral

Warning: This article contains details some people may find distressing.

Tristan Essex says his memories of his nana, Jessie Stockdale, are now "tainted" after funeral director Robert Bush kept her body for five months after her family were told her funeral had taken place.

Bush, who ran Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, is awaiting sentencing for preventing the burials of 30 people and giving grieving families the wrong ashes.

According to Tristan, with the benefit of hindsight, there had been warning signs.

"There was an awful smell in the funeral directors," he recalled. "My grandma was changed into different coffins every time we viewed her, and we obviously picked a specific coffin.

"She was put into larger coffins which were wider, longer, different colours, different trims. She was in at least three or four different coffins.

"We complained because the frill on the coffin was splattered with blood.

"There was black, thick mould around the inside of the coffin as well."

Victims and their families have been waiting for justice since the investigation began two years ago.

Bush, 48, specialised in low-cost funerals and claimed on his company's social media to offer "dignified personal care".

Behind the scenes, officers found a very different picture.

Humberside Police described its inquiry as "complex, protracted and highly sensitive", triggered by a report of "concern for care of the deceased" in March 2024.

Within days, 35 bodies and half a tonne of human ashes were recovered from the firm's premises on Hessle Road in Hull.

The body of Tristan's grandmother, Jessie, was among those discovered.

Tristan, 26, said his family were "knocked off our feet" when they were told Jessie was a victim.

"Thirty-five bodies were found inside Legacy and one of them had an ankle bracelet with my nana's name on," he said.

Robert Bush, 48, abused the trust of those at their lowest ebb

Funeral director admits preventing burials of 30 bodies

Bush had been due to stand trial in October, but during a hearing at Hull Crown Court earlier he admitted 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial.

He also pleaded guilty to one charge of stealing money from charity collection boxes.

The admissions followed others in October last year, when Bush pleaded guilty to 35 offences of fraud by false representation, relating to the proper care of remains and the return of ashes. Four of the charges related to giving women ashes that he falsely claimed were those of their unborn babies.

He also previously admitted a charge of fraudulently running a business. This related to the sale of funeral plans. There were 172 victims relating to this count alone.

In total, there were 254 victims of Bush's crimes, police said.

Many families were distraught to learn ashes they were given did not belong to their loved ones.

Some had unwittingly worn the ashes of strangers close to their body in the form of specially made jewellery.

One told us how a friend had the ashes mixed with tattoo ink and pushed deep into their skin.

The parlour in Hessle Road, Hull, has been described as "a hoarder's house"

Bush's disregard for the dead and their families did not end there.

More than 1,000 items, including love letters, baby clothes and treasured possessions belonging to the victims were found on the funeral director's premises, a crisis response team told the BBC.

"It was like a hoarder's house," said Kevin Curreri of Kenyon Emergency Services.

The team is typically brought in by governments in the wake of natural disasters, plane crashes and terrorism incidents.

This time, it was appointed by Hull City Council to recover the scene, after police had finished with it.

According to Curreri, human remains and personal possessions had been treated "so disrespectfully" that it showed "a pretty significant breach of trust".

Families left tributes to their loved ones at the former Legacy parlour in Hessle Road, Hull

Following the police searches, floral tributes were left outside the parlour.

Some of the notes attached to them demonstrated the unbridled rage felt towards the person responsible for causing this close-knit community so much heartache.