Funeral boss 'abandoned' bodies to 'let nature take its course'

Funeral boss 'abandoned' bodies to 'let nature take its course'Image source, Elizabeth Cook/PAImage caption, A court has been hearing from the families whose loved ones' remains were recovered from Robert Bush's funeral parlour in HullByPritti MistryBBC NewsPublished3 hours agoThis story contains details some might find distressing.Bodies found at a funeral home in varying states of decomposition had been "simply abandoned" and left "for nature to take its course", a court has heard.Hull Crown Court has heard graphic descriptions of how 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes were found at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March 2024.Former undertaker Robert Bush has admitted 67 offences, including failing to bury and cremate people.His sentencing hearing was told police found unidentified ashes in mouldy boxes at the Hessle Road premises, as well as family photographs on the "extremely dirty" floor, among other disturbing discoveries. Image source, Humberside PoliceImage caption, The faces of the victims whose bodies and ashes were recovered from Legacy's premises in 2024The court previously heard Bush falsely told families their loved ones had been cremated or buried and he had given them the ashes of strangers.On Wednesday, the prosecution alleged "multiple, serious failings" and said Legacy "did not meet industry standards" in respect of the care, identity, cremated remains and ashes of the deceased.Amid gasps and sobbing from the public gallery, prosecutor Steven Ball outlined the "chaotic" conditions inside the parlour, including how mould was seen on coffins and both excrement and bodily fluids on floors. Evidence from Dr Richard Lloyd, a human anatomy centre manager at the University of Cambridge and Cranfield University, described finding the site "in a lamentable state" and "a wholly inadequate approach to care for the deceased" at the...