Baby Sunny was sadly born sleeping
A photograph released by Humberside Police in memory of Sunny
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 trusted Rob with the most precious person in my life’ My son Sunny was born sleeping, but he was loved long before he entered this world and he will be loved for the rest of my life.
Even though his life was tragically short, he is still my child, a member of our family, and he always will be. When a parent loses a baby, all they hope for is that their child will be treated with dignity, care and respect. That is why we place enormous trust in the people responsible for caring for our loved ones after death.
I had always rooted for Rob to do well. My husband worked at the crematorium and spoke highly of him, and he seemed like a kind and trustworthy man.
When my father passed away in 2013, we used Legacy, a relatively new funeral service that my husband had recommended. My dad’s death was sudden. He was only 57 years old. Although he had been poorly, we were not expecting to lose him so soon.
During that time Rob appeared compassionate and supportive. He did not ask us for any money up front because he trusted my husband. I remember thinking how rare it was to meet someone who seemed so genuine and trusting.
My mum, my brother and I placed our full trust in him to help us through one of the hardest moments in our lives. He handled my father’s funeral and kept his ashes safely until we were ready to collect them.
As a family we chose not to collect them until we had paid him in full, because we felt he had done such a good job for us. Rob reassured us that this was absolutely fine and that there was no rush.
Because of that experience, when my son Sunny was born sleeping, I trusted him again. I chose for Sunny to be cared for at the Hessle Road site because it is a place deeply connected to my family.
My nanna worked on Strickland Street and my dad was a fisherman who worked on the standby boats. Hessle Road felt like somewhere safe, somewhere rooted in my family’s history. I believed my son would be cared for with dignity there.
I trusted Rob with the most precious and important person in my life. Losing Sunny was the most devastating experience of my life.After he was born sleeping, I struggled deeply. The grief was overwhelming and there were times when the pain felt so unbearable.
I felt lost in a darkness that no parent should ever have to face after losing a child. With time, support and the love of my family, I slowly began to rebuild my life and find a way to live alongside that grief. It was a long and difficult journey to reach a place where I could function again as a mother, partner and person.
When I discovered what had happened, it reopened that trauma in a way I cannot fully describe. It felt like being pulled back into the darkest time of my life. The grief, anxiety and distress returned with such intensity that I again found myself struggling mentally and emotionally.
I learned the truth while I was pregnant with my rainbow baby (baby after loss). What should have been a time of healing and hope instead became filled with anxiety and fear.
Instead of focusing on bringing new life into the world, I was forced to question whether my son had ever been treated with the dignity he deserved.
It has now been two years since all of this came to light, yet every new development takes me straight back to the moment my world fell apart — Friday the 13th of May 2022, the day I lost my son. Instead of being able to grieve and heal, I have been forced to relive that trauma again and again.
This situation has also deeply affected my children. We had already said goodbye to Sunny once. I believed we had laid him to rest with love and dignity. But because of these actions, I had to explain to my children that the goodbye we thought we had may not have been real. As a parent, having to reopen that grief for my children is something I will never forget.
Your actions have taken away something that can never be replaced: the peace of believing our loved ones were treated with care and respect after death.b The reality I now live with is that my baby boy Sunny has spent more time in your possession than he ever did with his own family.
I have to live with the fact that my son was kept for so long without my knowledge, and that when he was eventually found he was in brown paper bag on the floor. As a mother, that is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
All I ever wanted was for my son to come home so we could lay him to rest with dignity. Instead, my baby was kept from his family for years.
Sunny was my son. He was loved from the moment I knew he existed, and he will be loved for the rest of my life. He deserved dignity. He deserved respect. He deserved to be treated with care and compassion. That is all I ever asked for.
Sunny deserved better. Our family deserved better.
Jasmine Beverley