Katie Woolston, who tragically lost four babies between 2018 and 2023, says it “broke her in two” to discover the ashes she had been treasuring for over a year did not belong to her baby
Katie Woolston with partner Tom Buck and daughter Betsy(Image: Submitted)
A mum whose baby’s remains were left in disgraced funeral director Robert Bush’s care says it “broke her in two” to discover the ashes she had been treasuring did not belong to her baby – and there was no evidence her baby was ever cremated. Katie Woolston tragically lost four babies between 2018 and 2023, two of which were left in Bush’s care.
After receiving ashes in 2023 that looked different to the ones she was given in 2020, Katie knew something wasn’t right. Katie and partner Tom Buck have spoken of the “cruel” way in which Bush returned ashes that weren’t their baby’s.
She believes that her actual child’s remains may have been “thrown in the bin” by Bush, who pled guilty to 67 criminal charges including the prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud, fraudulent trading, and theft.
Read more: Funeral director Robert Bush jailed for 20 years
Bush had been responsible for cremating one of Katie’s babies in 2020. When the ashes of this first baby were given back, she says they came in a “presentable box” with a certificate from the crematorium. When they suffered their fourth miscarriage in 2023, the foetus had to be sent for testing to try to discover why Katie was unable to carry her babies to full term.
After tests were done, Katie received a phone call from the hospital mortuary to say the baby’s remains were ready for collection by the couple’s chosen funeral director. Katie, 28, said: “You go for an initial meeting with Robert and he asked if we would like the ashes in a little mini urn, designed for babies before 24 weeks, which he didn’t charge for.
“I said that would be lovely. Robert said he would go pick the baby’s remains up and get them cremated.
“Weeks went by and we hadn’t heard anything. I wasn’t coping with things well. I thought I’d never get the chance to become a mum. In the end my partner rang Robert and asked about when we were going to get these ashes.” When Bush called to say the ashes were ready to collect, Katie and Callum knew something wasn’t right.
“We went the next day to pick the ashes up and the box that I got the ashes in is what you’d get a really small parcel in. You wouldn’t expect to receive your ashes in this type of box. There was nothing dignified about it. I got no certificate. I opened the box and there was a little brown envelope that had ashes in. The ashes that I got in 2020 off him looked completely different.
“The ones from 2020 were really dark and fine, the ones in 2023 were like normal ashes, human’s ashes, but lighter in colour than the other ones. The other ones were nigh on black. I’d never seen ashes like my baby in 2020’s ashes. They were so fine and so dark I didn’t expect them to look like that.”
Katie didn’t think to raise questions until she saw an appeal from Humberside Police, inviting anyone who had concerns about Bush or Legacy to get in contact. At this point, she was 12 weeks pregnant again. Happily for Katie and Tom, 31, she successfully carried their daughter Betsy to full term. But the pregnancy was riddled with anxiety for the couple.
“I was petrified,” she said. “I thought that when I got to 12 weeks I would’ve calmed down but I was constantly panicking. The slightest tummy ache, the sight of any blood was torturous. It wasn’t one of those pregnancies where people say ‘I love being pregnant’. I believed at any point that something could happen to her.”
Katie wasn’t sure whether to speak up about her concerns about Bush, and was worried it would cause her extra stress in her already anxious pregnancy. But she said Bush had looked after her grandparents after they’d passed and she wanted to speak up on their behalf, as well as that of her two babies who were left in Bush’s care.
She said: “I was to-ing and fro-ing with the idea in my head thinking ‘I feel there’s something not right’. I didn’t think I could bring myself to find out when I was trying to not be stressed. I needed to get in touch with the police, because I knew in my mind there was something not right. Bush had also buried my nana and grandad and I was worried about them as well.”
Katie and Tom got a call saying the baby’s DNA could not be extracted from the ashes and they would never know whether the remains are theirs. It wasn’t until she was almost at the end of her pregnancy with Betsy that she had a call from the police asking if they could come and speak to her. “Straight away I thought they are going to tell me they aren’t my baby’s ashes,” Katie said.
“They came to the house and they said not only that they aren’t my baby’s ashes, but there was no evidence to show my baby was ever cremated at all. Not only have I had someone else’s ashes in my house for over a year but nobody knows where my baby’s ashes went.
“I was expecting to tell them that they weren’t my baby’s ashes but I wasn’t expecting them to say my baby wasn’t ever cremated. It did break me in two because I thought ‘what’s he done?’. It would’ve been so small and he could have just put it in the bin, I can’t get that out of my head. There’s a level and he’s gone completely below that. It’s just cruel, it’s really cruel.”
Bush has not been charged for his treatment of the premature babies’ remains, which Katie says has been a “kick in the teeth”. She hopes her fellow bereft mums and other families whose loved ones were mistreated by Bush are given some justice for their ordeal.
“From the minute you find out you’re pregnant, you’re planning your baby’s life. You wonder if they’ll look more like you or their dad, what colour hair they’ll have. I just hope he’ll get his comeuppance for what he’s done to other people. They are our babies. No matter what gestation you are.”
Katie and Tom, who live in East Hull, welcomed Betsy in October 2024 and describe her as a “blessing”. “I feel so lucky that we finally got our rainbow baby. I never ever thought I’d get the chance to be a mum. Betsy is the person who’s got me through this. I would’ve dealt with this completely differently and I wouldn’t have coped. Those ashes, they were my comfort and I felt like I had them close to me. Without her I don’t think I’d have got through it.”
The ashes Katie was given in 2023 have now been placed in a memorial garden. Katie said: “I knew they weren’t my baby’s ashes and the police said they were making a garden to put all the unidentified ashes in. Whoever’s ashes they are, they are in that garden now. Families will be able to go and remember their family members.”
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