Robert Bush sentencing RECAP: Funeral director 'smiled as he handed over wrong ashes'
The five-day sentencing hearing of Funeral director Robert Bush has started.
Funeral director Robert Bush smiled as he handed a grieving woman ashes that were not her mother's while her body still lay at his funeral home, Hull Crown Court has heard. The allegation emerged as the former Legacy Funeral director's five-day sentencing hearing got underway on Monday, with prosecutors accusing him of breaching the trust of grieving families "on an almost industrial scale".
On Monday, Jayne Rimmington, the daughter of Shirley Ann Wright, read out a victim impact statement in which she said she had been handed some ashes by Bush. Ms Rimmington said: “Even when I collected what I believed to be mum’s ashes, I trusted him, I believed his excuses. There never should have been a 30-minute wait for him to bring them to me – what had he been doing? When I questioned why they were so heavy when mum was so small, he said it must be her bone density. Again, I didn’t question it. I accepted what he said, I trusted him. He stood there smiling, handing me the box, when she was still laying there, rotting away.” In April, Bush pleaded guilty to a total of 67 charges, including the prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud, fraudulent trading, and theft.
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KEY EVENTS
- Case adjourned17:14
Case adjourned
The case was adjourned until Tuesday, and Bush was taken to the cells.
'Inhumane' and 'grotesquely disrespectful'
A granddaughter of Graham Finn has told Hull Crown Court what has happened was “inhumane, grotesquely disrepectful and has left my family shattered”.
Robert Bush’s sentencing hearing heard how Mr Finn’s family was given what the funeral director said were his ashes but his body was found at Legacy.
His granddaughter Mollie Finn told the court: “I despise Robert Bush for the pain and anguish he has caused — not only to my family but to so many others. He showed no respect for the dead, no consideration for the living, and no sign of human decency. I hope that for the rest of his life, he is haunted by what he has done.
“I hope he feels the weight of every family he has destroyed. I hope no one ever shows him an ounce of compassion, because he extended none to us.”
She said: “We are hurt. We are disgusted. We are angry. Nothing will ever be the same again. My pampa didn’t deserve this — no one did.
“Justice must be served, not just for our family, but for every single person affected by this appalling crime.”
Daughter says 'Bush has stolen my mum's dignity'
The daughter of Joan Stark said Robert Bush has “stolen my mum’s dignity by leaving her to lay where she was found”, Hull Crown Court has heard.
Chris Paxton KC, told Bush’s sentencing hearing how Lynne Jeffries arranged a funeral service for her mother, followed by a cremation, paying Bush £1,799. But she never received any ashes and her body was found by police at Bush’s premises.
'He made me a victim'
The family of Hilda Rhodes, known as Mary, had jewellery made out of some of what they were told by Robert Bush was her ashes, Hull Crown Court heard.
But her body was found by police at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March 2024.
Mrs Rhodes’s daughter Sarah Hepple said in a statement read at the hearing: “He made me a victim and has turned my world upside down. I have hatred for Bush.”
Ms Hepple said: “I’d had jewellery made with what I thought were my mum’s ashes, which were the ones first given to me by Legacy.
“For months we’ve all carried a little piece of my mum round with us, only to then find out that what we had was a total stranger.”
Cremation at Legacy was man's 'final wish'
A cremation at Legacy on Hessle Road was a local man’s “final wish”, his wife has told a court.
Peter Moody died aged 65 on November 13, 2023 and his body was recovered from the funeral firm on March 9, 2024 - almost four months after his death.
Reading a statement to Hull Crown Court, his wife Beverly Jackson said: “My husband was a proud Hessle Road lad. He was born and raised there, worked on the docks and in the fishing industry all his life, and never forgot his roots.”
“His final wish was to be cremated at Legacy Funeral Directors on Hessle Road," she also said.
Charitable donations from the service on December 3, 2023 at Legacy were to be paid to the Fishing Heritage Centre charity in Hull, but the organisation has “never received a donation from Legacy for Peter Moody”, prosecutor Chris Paxton said.
Funeral director 'mistreated hundreds of families'
Funeral director Robert Bush mistreated hundreds of families on an “almost industrial scale” and in a “myriad of ways”, Hull Crown Court has heard.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Chris Paxton KC said Bush’s firm was “at the heart of a community for around 14 years and was entrusted by hundreds of bereaved families at their time of need to treat their loved ones with dignity”.
He said Bush’s offending affected “young and old alike”.
The prosecutor said the total amount defrauded from customers was more than £500,000.
Court drawing of Robert Bush
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of funeral director Robert Bush appearing at Hull Crown Court.
'I feel like my nana was left to rot'
Jessie Stockdale’s body was recovered from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors after her family had been given ashes by funeral director Robert Bush, Hull Crown Court has heard.
Mrs Stockdale’s grandson Tristan Essex said in a statement read to the court: “I am angry, and I feel like my nana was left to rot, and that her dignity was taken away.
"I feel that there was no emotion, that no respect was shown by Robert Bush. I feel that I was completely misled by his persona and now I know that this is the opposite to the kind of person that Robert Bush really is.”
Calls for regulations
A man whose father’s body was recovered from Legacy months after his death has called for regulation of funeral companies.
Danny Middleton died aged 78 on November 8, 2023, and his body was recovered from Legacy four months later, Hull Crown Court heard.
His son, Gavin, arranged a funeral service at the Legacy chapel which took place on November 30, 2023, and a cremation for his father.
In a victim impact statement written by Gavin before his own death which was read out to court, he wrote: “I want legislation to be changed and for funeral directors to be registered, monitored so that this can never happen to anyone ever again.
“We need to learn from these mistakes and protect our relatives.”
Funeral director Robert Bush asked Gavin if he would like a collection plate at the service to which he agreed to have one for a dog sanctuary as his father had loved dogs, Chris Paxton KC said.
“Gavin Middleton recalls seeing the collection plate at the service, but never heard anything further regarding this, nor received any acknowledgement from the charity,” he added.
“Worse than losing my dad in the first place”
Hull Crown Court heard how the body of Terry Buck was found at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, but also a bag of ashes with his name labelled on it.
Chris Paxton KC, prosecuting, told the hearing how what his family believed were Mr Buck’s ashes were given to them after a non-attendance cremation with no service.
Mr Buck’s daughter Sarah Gray said in a statement read to the court said that, when the police arrived to say her father’s body had been found, it was “worse than losing my dad in the first place.”
Ms Gray said:
“I had what I was told by Legacy were my dad’s ashes upstairs. I gave these to the police officers that night as I couldn’t bear to have them in the house any longer.
“It’s heartbreaking to know the ashes we had cared for in our house weren’t my dad.
“I feel for the person whose ashes they are and the family of whoever those ashes belong to as they don’t have their loved one with them either. You’re meant to be able to trust a funeral director.”
The court heard how Mr Buck had a pre-paid plan with Legacy which cost £1,199 but neither this plan nor the payment was ever received by the insurance company.
'It's like nobody cared'
The son of a woman whose body was left at Legacy funeral firm for months has questioned why no other members of staff “spoke up”.
The body of Joyce Moulton, who died aged 98 in September 2023, was recovered from Legacy premises in March 2024, 169 days after her death, the court heard.
Her son, Ron Marsh, had organised a funeral for her at Legacy which took place on October 9, 2023, and the family expected a cremation to follow within the next couple of days, prosecutors said.
Mr Marsh paid a total of £1,877 to the company and had not received any ashes by the time police informed him about what had happened at Legacy despite the family inquiring on several occasions about this, the hearing was told.
In a statement read to court, Mr Marsh said what happened to his mother was “unthinkable” and that it had “knocked” his family’s trust in professionals including doctors, undertakers and carers.
Of Legacy, he added:
“It’s like nobody cared. It is very emotional to process.
“We cannot understand why no one working there ever spoke up. It seems like nobody in the organisation seemed to care.
“How can it be that people were left lying there for so long, and there was no respect shown to my mum, nor the others left behind?”
Man says Bush told him he would be 'told off' for attending cremation
Hull Crown Court heard how John Banyard was told by Robert Bush that he could not attended the cremation of his close friend John Carlill otherwise he would be “told off” by the council.
He had arranged for the direct cremation of Mr Carlill, who died aged 77, and arranged for the payment of £970.
Chris Paxton KC, prosecuting, told the hearing how Mr Banyard asked if he could attend at the cremation “but he was told multiple times he could not.”
Mr Paxton said: “He was warned that if he was found at the location, he would be told off. Mr Banyard explained he only wanted to see him go from the hearse into the chapel. Mr Bush warned him that Hull City Council would be very upset with him if he did.”
Mr Banyard later collected what he thought was his friend’s ashes.
Mr Carlill’s body was recovered from Legacy on March 8 2024, 178 days after his death, and his remains were identified by DNA, the court heard. In a statement read to the court, Mr Banyard said he had already felt guilty about his friend’s death, as he had struggled to care for him along with his father.
He said:
“I felt I had failed John by having to stop my care for him, and I felt I had failed him again when he had not received the cremation I had made arrangements for following his death.”
Mr Banyard said:
“If you can’t trust a funeral undertaker, who can you trust? How can someone be so callous, cold and calculated? Bush shook my hand and was saying ‘God bless’ to me.”
He added: “What he did was the lowest of the low.”
Family 'learned of investigation through press reports'
Robert Bush’s actions seem a “determined effort to destroy so many lives”, a man whose uncle’s body was left “to rot” told the court in a statement.
Mark Hotham died aged 87 in September 2023 and his body was discovered at Legacy on Hessle Road some 180 days after.
Nephew Nigel Hotham said he and his sister, Zoe, first learned of the investigation into Legacy through reports in the press, and Zoe had had a “strong feeling Mark was still there” at the premises.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Hotham said of Bush:
“I can’t forgive him and don’t think I ever will.
“One mistake is perhaps forgivable but to mistreat so many people is a huge betrayal. This is not just an error of judgment.
“It feels like a determined effort to destroy so many lives. You are supposed to trust a funeral director.”
Mr Hotham said his uncle “should have been treated with compassion and respect but he was left in a body bag, on a shelf, to rot”.
He added: “Nobody deserves to be treated like that.”
Victim questions 'lack of funeral industry regulation' in statement read in court
In a statement read to Hull Crown Court, David Gorbutt questioned why there is no regulation of the funeral industry.
Mr Gorbutt, whose wife Susan’s body was found at Legacy, said:
“Those responsible for this atrocious breach of trust seem to work in an industry that is – hopefully, was – totally unregulated.
“Who knew that was the case? Certainly not me.
“It is hard to believe a person needs more permits to sell burgers than to deal with the dead.”
He said:
“Learning the funeral director’s industry is unregulated makes me feel angry.
“How he had managed to do this and get away with this is beyond me.
“Why were no checks made and nobody raised any alarms before this?”
After his statement, Mr Justice Hilliard asked prosecutor Chris Paxton KC whether there was any regulation of the industry.
Mr Paxton told the judge said there was “no formal regulation” and added it was “perhaps surprising to see such a lack of onsite regulation”.
More demonstrators outside Hull Crown Court
More were demonstraters were pictured outside Hull Crown Court ahead of Robert Bush's sentencing earlier.
Bush smiled while giving victim wrong ashes, court hears
Robert Bush smiled as he handed over the wrong ashes to a woman whose mother had died, a court has heard.
Jayne Rimmington organised the funeral for her mother Shirley Ann Wright after her death in September 2023 with Bush’s company Legacy.
Hull Crown Court was told Mrs Wright’s body was discovered at Legacy in March 2024, 181 days after her death, and after her daughter had been handed some ashes by Bush.
Reading out a victim impact statement to court, Ms Rimmington said:
“Even when I collected what I believed to be mum’s ashes, I trusted him, I believed his excuses.
“There never should have been a 30-minute wait for him to bring them to me – what had he been doing?
“When I questioned why they were so heavy when mum was so small, he said it must be her bone density. Again, I didn’t question it.
“I accepted what he said, I trusted him.
“He stood there smiling, handing me the box, when she was still laying there, rotting away.”
Widower says he felt 'abused' after 'not knowing whose ashes he scattered'
A statement was read to Hull Crown Court from David Gorbutt, whose wife Susan Gorbutt died, aged 78, in September 2023.
Mrs Gorbutt’s body was recovered from Legacy 182 days after her death and her remains were identified using dental records, the court heard.
Mr Gorbutt explained how he scattered what he believed was his wife’s ashes at Little Switzerland, near the Humber Bridge.
He said in his statement:
“I wanted the ashes back quickly for Susan’s sake so I could scatter her on the Friday.
“I was reassured they were the ashes of Susan when I picked them up, I made sure I asked this question.
“This was what struck me when I first realised: I had scattered the wrong ashes.”
He said:
“I have had the uncertainty of not knowing who, or what I have scattered over the ashes of Susan’s son,
“I have no idea. Who was that? One person? More than one?”
Mr Gorbutt said:
“There are no words for how I felt at the time, I cannot describe my emotions how I felt.
“One word – abused – springs to mind.”
He said of Robert Bush:
“There is no punishment suitable for him.
“It doesn’t matter how sorry he is or what punishment he receives, nothing can replicate the suffering inside he has caused.
“There is no defence he can offer that will make any difference to how I feel.”
Family scattered ashes before woman's body was recovered, court heard
The body of Maureen Graham, who died in August 2024, was recovered at a Legacy funeral home 195 days after her death, Hull Crown Court has heard.
By this point, her son had already scattered the ashes he had been given, the hearing was told.
A cremation document was found at Legacy premises which said Ms Graham had been cremated in September 2023, prosecutors said.
In a victim impact statement read on her behalf, Ms Graham’s sister Sandra Spamer said:
“Losing my sister was a painful experience.
“At the time I tried to find some comfort in believing she had been treated with dignity and respect after her death and that her cremation had taken place as we were told.”
She added:
“It upsets me greatly that Maureen was not treated with the dignity and respect that everybody deserves.
“I feel angry, heartbroken and a deep sense of injustice that a man in a trusted position would do this to families for his own gain.
“My sister wasn’t just a body, she was a loved family member.”
Second image shows Robert Bush arriving at court wearing face covering
A second image shows Robert Bush arriving at Hull Crown Court wearing a face covering as he entered the building for the start of his sentencing hearing.
Victim overwhelmed by guilt over treatment of brother's body, court hears
A woman whose brother’s body was “left on a rack wearing a soiled hospital gown” at Legacy funeral home said she “can’t get past the guilt” she feels about what happened, the court heard.
Christina George, who cried as she read her victim impact statement to the court, said she had used Robert Bush’s firm for the funeral of her brother, Raymond Dagnall, after he died aged 64 in July 2023.
She said:
“When I found out that Raymond was just left on a rack wearing a soiled hospital gown and still with hospital tubes in his body, the guilt was just too much.”
“He hadn’t even washed him and put him in a shroud,
“I often break down in tears and just can’t get past the guilt that I feel."
After Ms George finished her statement, Mr Justice Hilliard said:
“A number of people have explained how guilty they feel because of what’s happened.
“As you know, it is unfortunately often the case were crimes are committed and those who aren’t responsible end up feeling guilty.
“There’s not much I can do about that but it’s not their responsibility, is it what happened.”
"She was only feet away when I was given her 'ashes'"
Byron Lill read a victim personal statement to Robert Bush’s sentencing hearing about his mother, Muriel Winning.
When Mrs Winning died in 2023 at the age of 61, Mr Lill placed what he thought were her ashes on the windowsill of his home.
Her body was found at the Hessle Road premises 230 days, seven months and 15 days after her death, the court heard.
Her remains were identified through dental records.
An emotional Mr Lill had to compose himself a number of times as he told the court:
“All the hard work and tireless care we willingly gave mum was for nothing.
“She protected us her whole life from mistreatment, and it feels that the one time I could repay her and protect her, I couldn’t.
“Bush took this away from me.
“I work close to the Legacy premises on Hessle Road and drive past it every day.
“Knowing now that Mum was laying inside for almost eight months destroys me.”
He said:
“Knowing she was still laying there when Bush smiled and handed me a box he said were her ashes, when she was still only a matter of feet from me, I just can’t accept.”
Mr Lill said:
“Bush took advantage of us when we were at our most vulnerable. He abused his position of trust.
“Why? There will never be a good enough answer. There will never be an answer that I can accept.”
File photo shows police outside Legacy Funeral Directors in 2024
Police swarm the Hessle Road branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in 2024.
Victim says father's body remained in cardboard coffin for almost 11 months
A woman gave Robert Bush a bottle of port to thank him for “taking care” of her father after his funeral was held, a court has heard.
In a victim impact statement read to court, Karen King said that after her father’s death in April 2023 he had laid in a cardboard coffin for “almost 11 months”.
She said: “I feel like we have been reliving the grief we went through when Dad died, though this time it feels so much worse.
“I find sleeping difficult as Bush’s actions are always on my mind.
“I have been through an emotional breakdown and the whole situation has impacted on my life greatly.
“I gave Robert Bush a bottle of port to thank him for taking care of Dad. The smile on his face as he accepted will always haunt me.”
"My world fell apart all over again"
Kathryn Howard read a victim personal statement to Robert Bush’s sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court relating to her long-term partner John Butler, who died aged 73 in June 2023.
Ms Howard said: “Meeting Robert Bush changed my life. I lost my partner of 28 years in June 2023 through cancer and it felt like I’d lost a part of me.”
She said: “Over time I was slowly coming to terms with my loss but when I had a knock on the door on the night of March 11 2024 my world fell apart all over again.
“My partner, John, could be one of the bodies found at Legacy. My John. In the place I’d laid him to rest so many months before.”
Ms Howard said: “Rob promised me he’d look after John and he didn’t, not at all.”
She said: “I feel like I’ve let John down – by choosing Legacy, by trusting Rob Bush.
“I just can’t believe what that man has done. How can he hurt people like that?
“Would he do it to his own family, treat them this way?
“An apology would not be enough for me.
“It could never take away the pain and grief that I feel for enduring not one but two funerals for my lovely John. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
“I want Rob Bush to look me in the eyes and explain himself. I want him to know that I will never, ever, get over this.”
Woman says she feels 'violated' after 'wearing stranger's ashes in locket'
A woman said in a victim impact statement she feels “violated” after discovering she had been wearing “some unknown person’s ashes” in a locket around her neck after the death of her father.
In a victim impact statement, Karen King said she had arranged the funeral of her 94-year-old father Norman Bridger with Legacy after his death in April 2023.
In the statement, read to the court on Ms King’s behalf, she said:
“I collected what I thought were dad’s ashes around three weeks after his funeral.
“I put some of them in a special locket for me and mum that we both wore around our necks, it felt important to us both to have dad still close to us.
“I now feel violated that I have had some unknown person’s ashes so close to me.
“Mum still had what we had believed to be dad’s ashes at home with her.
“It added to our distress having to take them from her. Mum is 94 years old, she is very frail and suffers from dementia and cancer, I haven’t been able to bring myself to tell her about what Bush has done to dad.”
Demonstrators gathered outside court
People demonstrating outside Hull Crown Court today ahead of the sentencing.
Bush had 'no system' for identifying bodies, court told
Prosecutor Chris Paxton told Hull Crown Court that, after he was arrested, Robert Bush told police: “I’ve f***** it all up, everything, my whole world.”
Mr Paxton said Bush told officers he had debts of around £90,000.
He said:
“He believed there were around 30 bodies at the Hessle Road site and that five or six of these were recent and in the process of waiting to be cremated.
“In respect of the older bodies that had not been cremated due to cashflow issues, his plan had been to generate more business and clear the backlog within two to three months.
“He believed the oldest body that was retained was from April 2023. He said these were generally of older people above the age of 60.”
Mr Paxton said Bush replied “no comment” when asked if human ashes were provided to families of persons who had yet to be cremated.
He said Bush explained that he had no system of identifying where bodies were placed at the site as he had “personally retained this information”.
“Something from a horror scene”
Patrick Moore, a former casual employee at Robert Bush’s funeral firm, described the premises as “something from a horror scene”, a court has heard.
Chris Paxton KC said:
“Mr Moore was asked how many bodies were there, Mr Moore counted up to 29 bodies and described it as being something from ‘horror scene’.”
Mr Moore said he believed some of the bodies had been there since before he had begun to work at the company, which was some seven months previously, Mr Paxton said.
'Human foetus remains found by officer'
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told Hull Crown Court how an officer found the remans of a human foetus in Bush’s premises.
Mr Paxton said:
“(The officer) saw a brown paper bag on the right-hand side next to the door during the search which appeared to be a police evidence bag.
“In this bag was a white cotton pad.
“(The officer) opened the pad and inside was a tiny item which he initially thought was a baby bird.
“Although initially unsure, he suspected it was a human foetus.
“There were two hospital wristbands wrapped around the waist with the words, ‘Baby of Jasmine Beverley, born on 13 May, 2022 at 05:04’.
“He was shocked.”
The prosecutor said the investigation established that these were the identification wristbands placed around the waist of babies by the hospital when they were too small for them to be placed around the wrist.
He said this was later found to be baby Sunny and he will explain more about what happened later in the hearing.
Police pictured funeral directors in 2024 during investigation
Police officers outside Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road, Hull, during the investigation in March 2024.
Offending discovered “by chance”
Robert Bush told an employee “not to bring anyone back” to his funeral firm Legacy, Hull Crown Court has heard.
Chris Paxton KC told the hearing that Mr Bush’s offending was discovered “by chance” after Mr Bush had asked Gary Pickering and Steve Emmerson, directors of separate funeral firm Evergreen, for their help in recovering a body while he was on holiday in Arizona with his daughter.
Patrick Moore, a casual worker at Legacy, attended a care home on Bourne Street in Hull along with Mr Pickering and Mr Emmerson to recover the body and then “insisted” they take the body back to Evergreen, the court heard.
“Mr Moore stated that Mr Bush had told him in the past not to bring anyone back to Legacy nor help put a body into the fridge area, and Mr Moore believed that was because of the smells coming from the premises on Hessle Road,” Mr Paxton added.
“At the time, Mr Pickering thought this was odd as they were right there by the premises,” he said.
Bodies found in “various states of decomposition”
Prosecutor Chris Paxton KC told Hull Crown Court how police who first went into the premises found bodies in “various states of decomposition”.
Mr Paxton said:
“Three police officers then attended Mr Bush’s premises at Hessle Road, where they found a large number of human bodies within a cold storage area of the premises.
“This room had been built into one corner of the premises and consisted of a rectangular construction, with a large sliding door at one end, four fan-driven cooling units on the opposite wall, and with racking along both sides, three racks high.
“There were bodies stored on the racks on both sides of the room.
“The vast majority were uncovered and in varying states of decomposition.
“There was a further naked body lying on a stretcher on the floor.”
He said:
“There was evidence of human putrefaction, visible on the floor, and a mop and bucket in the corner of the room, which contained further evidence of putrefaction.
“Many of the bodies had hospital identity bracelets on their wrists and ankles, some had biological hazard bracelets, while others had no identifying markers.
“There was also evidence of personal possessions with some of the deceased and other personal effects on the floor and on shelving.”
Robert Bush arriving at Hull Crown Court earlier
Robert Bush arriving at Hull Crown Court ealier today surrounded by members of the media ahead of his sentencing hearing.
Bush chose to spend money on himself instead of business, court told
Funeral director Robert Bush chose to spend “money on himself and others” rather than his business, Hull Crown Court has heard.
Chris Paxton KC said of Bush:
“In the seven years between March 2017 and April 2024, some £3,076,522 was paid into his business and personal accounts excluding transfers between those accounts.”
He added:
“During this time, his profligate personal spending and transfers to his wife, Vikki Bush, account for £879,655.94.”
Mr Paxton said this amount would have been “available” to the business.
The prosecutor said of Bush’s firm:
“The financial situation within the business was not dire, but likely mismanaged, and the expenditure reflected Mr Bush’s priorities and not those whom he was meant to be serving.”
The cost of the cremation of one body was around £500, Mr Paxton said, adding:
“Yet Mr Bush chose, the prosecution say, not to deal with the bodies entrusted to him but to spend the money on himself and others.”
Court hears funeral director defrauded grieving families of more than £500,000
The prosecutor, Chris Paxton KC, said Bush’s firm was “at the heart of a community for around 14 years and was entrusted by hundreds of bereaved families at their time of need to treat their loved ones with dignity”.
He said Bush’s offending affected “young and old alike”.
The prosecutor said the total amount defrauded from customers was more than £500,000.
What is Robert Bush being sentenced for?
Bush is being sentenced after admitting a series of offences linked to Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull.
-He faces sentence on 30 counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body.
-He is also being sentenced for one count of theft involving money donated to 12 charities.
-Bush has also admitted multiple fraud offences relating to human remains found at his funeral business premises.
The sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court is expected to last five days.
Court artist drawing
Court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of funeral director Robert Bush appearing at Hull Crown Court today for sentencing.
Welcome to our live coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of the sentencing hearing of funeral director Robert Bush at Hull Crown Court.
Prosecutors say Bush breached the trust of grieving families "on an almost industrial scale", alleging he failed to bury or cremate loved ones, handed families ashes that were not those of their relatives, and stole charitable donations.
We'll bring you the latest updates and key developments from court throughout the day.
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