Dorothy Curtis’ family were heartbroken to discover the ashes they had so thoughtfully scattered in special places were not hers
Dorothy Curtis
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.
My mother, Dorothy Curtis, was a resident at the Alexandra Court Care Home and passed away on the 19th of August 2022. The home recommended two funeral directors and Legacy got back to me.
My mother would never discuss what she wanted for a funeral. She was only actually ill for a week (apart from the dementia) and she couldn’t look after herself and lived most of her life in Burton Pidsea and we had to find somewhere safe for her to live. We ended up at the care home in Hull.
We felt guilty as we had taken her away from what she knew. She did join in at the home and seemed happy there. I always saw mum as I only lived ten minutes away.
My sister called Legacy and was given the price of £1799 to include a standard coffin, the use of the chapel at the Legacy premise in Hull, a Celebrant, and the cremation. It was all dealt with over the phone; we got no receipts. Robert Bush stated the cremation would be at a time of his choosing.
The funeral service took place on 05/09/22 and was a lovely funeral. My mum used to sing and my son would record her singing so she sang her way out of the funeral. On 15/09/22 my sister had arranged to go to her home in Turkey and as mum had spent some quality time there, we thought would be nice to scatter some of her ashes. She loved the lemon tree so we thought we would sprinkle some ashes on the tree.
I kept chasing Robert Bush for the ashes. He just kept saying they were not back. It was several weeks before I got them. When my sister returned from Turkey and went back again, she took some ashes in the March.
In September 2022, Robert Bush handed me an olive-green coloured box that had a label on it with my mother’s details. We scattered some ashes on her sister’s grave. We had a plaque made to say that ashes of her sister were with her. I had some ashes in a jar with my mum’s picture on it.
She loved being driven around the countryside, so I put mum in the passenger pocket of the car. We still had some left that we were going to scatter in Burton Pidsea but I didn’t get round to this. The ashes remained in a cupboard. I thought we had done mum proud in what we did.
When the news about Legacy broke in March of 2024, my sister’s husband saw it on the news, had told my sister who then told me. My sister asked if it could have affected us. I didn’t think we would be. I thought the news was awful and felt a bit ashamed that I had used them, but I said I would find out.
I rang the helpline number. I got a phone call from the police who arranged to come and see me. I told him I was querying if the ashes were Mum’s. I kept hold of the ashes. I was later informed by the police that mum was cremated at Barmby Moor in November 2022. This was a crushing blow and there was no possibility that the ashes I had were Mum’s. The ashes I had left, I decided to take to Chanterlands Avenue Crematorium.
I wonder now if the person taken to Barmby Moor was mum. She could be anywhere. I thought I was bringing mum back to the area where she lived but I don’t know what happened to mum and where she is. I just hope she is in a happy place.
Robert Bush was always pleasant. I went to see Mum before the funeral. We left her handbag with her. He was very hard to get hold of and you ended up leaving a message and he would get back to you. He came across as a meek and mild sort of man, not the type of person to rip you off.
He was very accommodating and appeared that nothing was too much for him. Everyone was shocked by what has happened. Nobody would have thought that this would ever had happened. It makes you think, how long did he do this for, how many people would be affected by this but have no idea.
I’m sorry that Mum hasn’t returned to her roots. She was a country girl, and I can’t return her to where she was. I’m devastated at what’s happened.
Yvonne Robinson