Funeral director 'left baby's remains on floor for two years'

A funeral director has been accused of leaving baby remains on a floor for two years and providing the wrong ashes to 46 families. Robert Bush also defrauded 226 individuals out of over £550,000 through fraudulent funeral plans over an 11-year period.

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it better not be my dad in there

During the court hearing, Kadie Laws, whose father's ashes were mishandled, described her "extreme anger" towards Bush. She stated that her family would "never heal from this trauma" and she would "never be myself again." Kerry Webb recounted the heartbreak of not knowing if her mother's body was truly cremated, as it was left at the parlor for seven weeks before police identification.

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My family and I are never going to heal from this trauma. I'll never be myself again and that's because of Robert Bush.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC detailed how bodies were discovered in a dirty and unkempt cold storage area, with one found on a stretcher on the floor. The vast majority were "uncovered and in varying states of decomposition." Bush's crimes were discovered by chance when funeral directors tipped off the police while he was on holiday. He was arrested upon landing at Heathrow Airport and admitted to debts of approximately £90,000.

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How could someone be so cruel? Seven weeks of heartbreak, of not knowing if it was truly my mum inside that coffin, of not knowing what had happened to her body, of being terrified that somebody had hurt her.

Shelley Chearman addressed Bush directly, calling him a "cruel conman" who used people's grief to fund his lifestyle. The hearing is ongoing.

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You fooled a lot of people in Hull with your mild manner, when in fact you are a cruel conman. You use people's grief to fund your lifestyle.