Carrying on with my news stories from Yorkshire the latest is the funeral director Robert Bush who has been locked up for 20 years for failure to run a funeral parlour in a correct and proper manner. He was charged with fraud, prevention of proper and decent burial, fraudulent trading and theft. He was a Hull resident and the funeral parlour was in Hull, East Yorkshire. He was aged 48.
Bush was raided by the police after other funeral directors became suspicious and when Bush was away on holiday they took the opportunity to take a peep inside. 35 rotting bodies were found and up to a 100 lots of ashes. He was known to lie to funeral celebrants and this was what led to the suspicions from other funeral directors in the end.
Now it may not be known by all but the funeral parlour had been owned by another dodgy funeral director before Bush and he was being investigated by the police but died before the investigations were completed and the case against him was dropped. In walks Bush to acquire the business, not connected with the first owner, but picks up where he left off.
Bereaved families were handed any old ashes when they went to collect their loved ones ashes and it is thought that Bush found the "old stock" of the previous owner very useful for this and rebagged and boxed them. Meanwhile bodies remained in the fridge that didn't work, also bought in situ when he acquired the premises. Rotting bodies were found, including a baby which was thought at first to be an animal in a bag.
Bush also offered funeral plans where you pay up-front for your own funeral in advance so that everything is taken care of before you die to save your relatives worry in the future. Bush used most of this money for his own holidays and luxuries. Beware. There are a lot of adverts directed at us now to plan ahead in this way, the cinema ads are full of it although I guess the Co-op is reliable but who knows, I suppose the Daily Mirror and BHS employees thought their pensions were safe once upon a time.
Money that was donated for identified charities by bereaved families in memory of their loved ones was also taken by Bush for himself.
The Bush family were said to be intelligent and outwardly ordinary and good people. His wife is standing by him. His daughter worked with him in the funeral parlour and was said to have been embalming since she was 14. No charges were brought against her or her mother. I would say they were lucky to escape charges. Underneath it all Bush hid this East Yorkshire funeral parlour of evil for his own selfish ends and kept a good front of house appearance.
More stories from Yorkshire include a machete wielding Asian gang arriving at a house in the middle of the night in Huddersfield in an attempted kidnapping and the recruitment of a young Norwegian boy by Iran to carry out a murder in West Yorkshire. The organisation recruit young teenagers to carry out targeted murders in Europe of those against the Iranian regime. The boy was found guilty at the Old Bailey last week of conspiracy to murder. He will be sentenced in October.
Seems a fun place to live in Yorkshire Rachel. But it can be very beautiful in places. I think the Co-op funeral services are the best but unfortunately expensive.
ReplyDeleteMy occasional series on crime in Yorkshire is to illustrate that Yorkshire is no different to anywhere else. I think the Co-op is pretty safe but one can never take anything for granted. The cost of funerals is a racket if you ask me. They are very expensive everywhere for what they are. Thank you Thelma.
DeleteIt makes a change from London being the epicentre of evil! Until I heard about this funeral parlour case, I had assumed that the industry was regulated. Found this on google search : "Funeral services are not fully regulated by the government across the entire UK, though the rules differ depending on where you live. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, funeral directors do not need a licence, formal qualifications, or routine inspections to operate." I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I really need to look deeper into things before accepting them at face value. I have been gullible my whole life trusting authority and institutions and now I am beginning to think ignorance is bliss. Well on that note Rachel, I wish you a lovely day there in Norfolk. I am relieved it is August. The grass is golden and the sky is blue. Time for the rain will soon be here but for now (apart from the heat) I am enjoying grasshoppers in the garden instead of snails and lots of sun ripened early blackberries. x
ReplyDeleteI was shocked at what was found in the funeral parlour in Hull Simone. I had always thought of the funeral business as being respectable and dignified and trustworthy. I was surprised to learn that there is no regulatory body. A funeral director, female, died recently in a funeral parlour here when she got squashed in the pulley contraption for bodies, she was working alone. I do not want the summer to go too quickly, I am enjoying it too much. Have a lovely day Simone. xx
DeleteIf this was in a movie we'd all think how absurd and bizarre, a story from some writer's over-fertile imagination. But reality always beats anything an author can come up with, doesn't it. Those poor families who now have to come to terms with the crimes committed against them and their beloved deceased family members.
ReplyDeleteDuring my very recent stay in Yorkshire, I noticed a lot of those adverts for funeral plans, also the Co-op one. They were on every evening when/if we were watching TV.
Incidentally, the insurance company who are my main employer have ventured into this segment of the market only a couple of years ago. So far, all I can say about it is that our product is real - but what the funeral directors involved do could be entirely different, as our side is only the financial one; we have nothing to do with the actual running of funeral parlours. However, the German association of funeral parlours/directors are our main partner in this, and they should be trustworthy, being highly regulated both internally and externally through supervision.
I found it quite shocking - fact is sometimes stranger than fiction. The families involved are in grief forever over this and now they are hurt by the sentence only being 20 years because they know that the defendant is likely to be released in 10 years.
DeleteYour insurance company is offering the pre-paid funeral plan which can be purchased at source. This appears to be a safer way of purchasing a plan in preparation for the future than handing over money to an individual funeral director and trusting that he will invest for you. Of course this man pocketed the money into his personal bank account, and that of his wife, and never invested it.
Funeral plans are advertised widely on British media and whilst I have noticed the Co-op one at the cinema I have not paid attention to others on the television because I mute the sound.
It may be that the German funeral industry is better regulated than the British one. Thank you Meike.
It's appalling. At least we have not yet sunk to the depths of some 'funeral homes' where 'visiting' is encouraged. I would not wish to have people gawping at my dead visage.
ReplyDeleteAn elderly cousin is dying at the moment and is quite clear that he does not wish to have a funeral at all. He has worked with the British Legion for many years and they intend to give him a memorial service.
The popularity of private unattended cremations is growing. My recently bereaved friend's husband chose this option for himself. There will be no memorial service. The family were all happy with his choice and his widow too. It seemed strange to me but then the more I thought about it the more it seemed quite reasonable and sensible.
DeleteMy father-in law died in 2024. He had an unattended cremation. He was an atheist so it was was quite fitting I suppose. There was a gathering for him with close family and shared food and photos. He was estranged from my husband (his father) and my brother-in-law organised it. A year later they had his ashes put into the top of the family grave. We then went to the pub for a delicious spread of food and drinks in a private room. It was very dignified. It happened 4th August last year.
DeleteInteresting. It sounds like he knew his own mind assuming that he directed the choice of unattended cremation. This is like my friend's husband. He left instructions that there was to be no get together or anything which they all respected. It made sense, he had worked all over the world, his family lived in different countries and he wanted it to be easy for everybody.
DeleteHe wouldn't have had any clue about it Rachel. All I know is that he never attended any of his siblings funerals and couldn't care less. Regardless, my brother-in-law cared about him. It seemed the ideal scenario. Apart from my brother-in-law, nobody shed a tear.
DeleteOh I see, a one off situation, not like my friend whose husband made his own decision. I agree with you that your brother-in-law found a good solution. xx
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