Humberside Police images have been shared of the start of the investigation into Hull’s Legacy Independent Funeral Directors. Body-worn camera footage and pictures were captured in Hessle Road and also at the Anlaby Road branch of the business.
A video and stills taken by the first officers on site at Hessle Road on March 6, 2024 show some chaotic scenes, including a kitchen area piled up with supermarket bags for life, empty boxes and what appear to be coffin fittings. A sign on the wall reads: “When you remove the empty box, please replace it”.
There is a sink with a “Dirty area” sign above and lots of detritus around it, including scissors and tape. There is an empty urn designed for ashes on its side and what is apparently a pair of hospital-issue socks on a work surface, among the clutter.
The video records the officers’ journey through the tidier-looking public-facing areas, where there are chairs for bereaved visitors to sit and boxes of tissues placed on the table in front and a kitchenette off with mugs and a microwave. In an office area, a desk is littered with a jumble of paperwork and other items and there are more bags with unknown contents.
There is a scene of a room with rows of chairs lined up and a screen on the wall in front, as if used for ceremonial purposes. Elsewhere the officers walk into a workshop area with cars inside, including a hearse, and there is a shot of racing gear hanging on a wall.
The photographs taken by police include one of rows of bags of ashes and another of boxes of ashes. There is one shot of envelopes of charity donations and there are others of untidy behind-desk areas, one of florist’s ribbon reels on a wall and one of a mezzanine area at Hessle Road scattered with wood or possibly MDF offcuts.