Alan Brigham said: ‘The significance and impact of this incident is substantial to so many, and those effects will remain very much alive for a great many years’
A police officers guards the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors following the discovery(Image: Donna Clifford / Hull Live)
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.
As soon as the press released information about the discovery of uncared for human remains at Legacy, the mental and physical pain began. Although I was initially concerned, based on the information provided by the press, I understood that the police had already communicated with those involved and they had not contacted either my siblings or me.
I felt safe, but still very worried about not acting on ‘red flags’ I had felt over the ashes of our mother. Was there something in the statements Robert Bush made about the delay in returning the ashes? Was there anything suspicious about the strange colouration and consistency of her ashes? Why had I not spoken to the Cemeteries office about these concerns?
I would at least have discovered that they had not cremated her body at Northern Crematorium, as stated by Robert Bush. In due course, the police revealed that they had found a wrapper from the missing container that had held our mother’s ashes. A substance believed to be her ashes was recovered from within the folds of this wrapper. In total, we received slightly less than one half of a teaspoon of dust, which we have had to accept as her remains.
I recovered what I could, of the now bright pink coloured, previously deposited material from where we had placed it. Not knowing if it was sawdust, horticultural grit, cat litter or the lost remains of some unknown victim’s child, sibling, parent or partner, I returned the said substance to Humberside Police. All I could now do was sprinkle the few grains of another unidentifiable dust in those places our mother had wished to be deposited… and hope.
I cannot get out of my mind the amount of suffering and distress I feel I could have saved my family, our extended families and all those unrelated victims of Robert Bush’s greed and nauseating crimes – had I just seen those many red flags. I do not think that my siblings attach any blame to me for what happened in respect to the events following the loss of our mother.
Unfortunately, I do not believe that myself. I cannot get beyond the guilt of arranging the service requested by my late mother and I cannot move forward from those accursed red flags. They just will not go away.
I am not a revengeful person. I understand how so many crimes are less about greed and more about circumstances. Robert Bush must have arrived where he is from a very dark place, the origin of which I do not know or could guess at. One small mistake can lead to ever more mistakes in order to cover those that went before. Was it simply a motive of personal greed?
I do begrudge more the loss of the donations to Dove House than the fraudulent conduct relating to the contract, promises and fees we paid for our mother’s service and cremation. Theft from a charity is an abhorrent crime – when committed by a person or persons of means.
Did he enjoy some form of financial or situational benefit which infected him like a chemical drug or stimulant? I have no answers to any of my questions and, even if I did, could I believe them? I would love to sit with him, face to face, and hear them.
I personally do not believe that punishing Mr Bush will bring me any comfort or sense of closure, but I do know that he must be held accountable for his actions. While we are all made of the same basic building block, we are all different and entitled to express our own feelings and views.
I would genuinely like to thank you for taking the time to consider my brief but lengthy statement. The significance and impact of this incident is substantial to so many, and those effects will remain very much alive for a great many years. I appreciate your attention to our experience and trust that this account will be useful in understanding the personal consequences of such crimes.
I would also like to express and record my great appreciation for the work of Humberside Police and the stress they must also have suffered during their investigations.
Alan Brigham