It’s been a very emotional week in Hull. One of those that will stay with everybody involved in some way for a very long time – for all the wrong reasons.
Families across Hull believed their much-missed loved ones had been lawfully and respectfully buried or cremated as per their wishes. But what was really unfolding was one of those stories that you don’t quite believe unless you’re in the middle of it.
Yesterday, at Hull Crown Court, Legacy Independent Funeral Directors’ Robert Bush was jailed for 20 years, after pleading guilty to 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial, one count of theft from charities, 30 counts of fraud by false representation in relation to the deceased recovered at his funeral home who should have been cremated, five counts of fraud by false representation in relation to ashes, and fraudulent trading in relation to funeral plans.
The ‘hundreds of victims and families’ referred to by Humberside Police had trusted Robert Bush with their loved ones. They expected him to treat them with the dignity and respect they deserved.
But that didn’t happen. Families thought their loved ones had been cremated or buried – when in reality, they were still at the Hessle Road site. Some were left waiting for ashes that have never been provided, or were given ashes that we now know were not their loved ones.
He took advantage of these people when they were at their lowest and most vulnerable – this simply should not have happened and absolutely cannot be allowed to happen again. Steps were immediately taken to prevent that within hours of Bush’s sentencing, with the Government announcing “urgent plans” to formally regulate the funeral sector following the “harrowing” case.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it would lead cross-government work “to ensure that every person in every setting is treated with the respect they deserve in death”. It said it will work with other Government departments, including the Ministry of Justice and the Law Commission, to “crack down on rogue operators”.
It is vital that this happens, we cannot allow any more families to suffer in such a cruel way. These are real people, real families, their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and babies – every one of them special in their own way and to the people who loved them.
And we want to honour them, which is why, every day, for as long as it takes, we will be telling their stories in the Hull Daily Mail. These are stories that must be heard.
Today, our hearts go out to every single person affected by this unthinkable tragedy.