Joan Stark’s daughter said: “I need Robert Bush to explain what he did to my mum and why he did it. What was going through his mind?”
Joan Stark
On Friday, July 31 2026, Hull funeral director Robert Bush was jailed for 20 years.
The 48-year-old left bodies to decompose at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors’ premises in the city, gave bereaved families the ashes of other people and stole money donated from collections at funerals.The “horror” and revulsion felt by the families who had lost loved ones was revealed at Hull Crown Court during a series of powerful and harrowing victim statements during the first four days of the five-day sentencing hearing.
Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing those statements – from families who had cruelly been taken advantage of when they were at their most vulnerable. Their stories need to be told, and we will ensure that they are, for as long as it takes.
I first met Robert Bush after my mum, Joan Stark, fell ill and we thought she was about to pass away. At the first meeting, the mere presence and on speaking to Robert Bush immediately put my mind at ease as he gradually went through step by step of what would be carried for my mum’s service, cremation and collection of the ashes.
I finally felt so at ease knowing all was going to be sorted so I paid the full amount of the cost that same day. After my mum passed we accordingly had the service for her and, as expected, it was a very upsetting time. All our trust was put in this man to carry out everything he had promised to do.
He told me that after the cremation had been carried out it would take approximately two weeks then they would contact me to inform me that my mum’s ashes would be available to collect. Two weeks went by, then three weeks with no contact at all, so I rang Legacy but no one answered. I rang on a couple more occasions but no one picked up.
Another week went by and I was at home with my husband watching TV news when the story came on about Legacy Funeral Services. What I can only describe as gruesome information was revealed. It was the first time of me hearing about this and the impact was so shocking. The sickness and panic of not knowing what it was I was going to be told.
I felt vulnerable, intimidated and cheated all because I had put all my trust into a man I thought would look after my mum and treat her in the dignified and loving way she should have been treated. Not only had he cheated and stole, not just from me and my family but from other families too, for financial gain but he had stolen my mum’s dignity by leaving her to lay where she was found.
The acts this man has committed are unforgivable and disgusting and should never happen to another person again. Not only myself but all my family have suffered the impact of this hateful and cruel act and I doubt the hell Robert Bush has put us all through will ever be forgotten.
I need Robert Bush to explain what he did to my mum and why he did it. What was going through his mind? Did he think that what he was doing was in anyone’s interest but his own? I just can’t comprehend what he’s done.
Lynne Jeffries