Inside a horror funeral home where bodies lie rotting, families are given the wrong ashes and burial plots are sold that don’t exist

When police gently pushed open the door at the back of the funeral home, the smell of decay was immediate.

Inside they found 35 decomposing bodies, some of which were not even in freezers.

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Many families of the deceased thought their loved ones had already been cremated services held at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.

They now fear that the cremations never took place again Detectives told at least one family that their relative’s body was still in the home — seven weeks after the funeral service.

Other families say Police have applied for ash for which they received DNA to test.

The scene was so horrific that police had to call in a diving unit experienced in dealing with decomposing remains.

The company, which appears to have been in financial trouble for two years, is run by Robert Bush, 46, and his daughter Saskya, 23. Both have been arrested on suspicion of fraud and preventing a lawful and decent burial and have been released on bail.

The pair are avid motorcyclists and own high-end bicycles, which are reportedly kept in a garage at the funeral home.

from Saskya Instagram Pictures show her enjoying lunch with friends, riding her motorbike around the Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire and on a sunny holiday to Cape Verde.

It is understood that Robert was out of the country when the funeral home was robbed.

Donations to charities

Describing it as a “truly horrific incident”, Humberside Police also raided two other salons owned by the company – one in Hull and a second in Beverley, eight miles away.

In what is Britain’s largest ever investigation into a funeral home, police revealed last night that they had invoked the British response to the question. FBI.

The police are assisted by experts and advisors from the National Police Crime Agency, which usually deals with high-profile cases such as drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Police also revealed that they had identified all 35 bodies – and informed their relatives.

Now we wonder if she was even in that coffin

Wendy, relative of the deceased

The Sun understands complaints have also been made about charity donations collected during services.

The funeral home was set to be struck off the registers and dissolved within two months unless it submitted its accounts this week. It also faced a strike last year.

According to reports, Legacy has debts of more than £62,000 and has seven unpaid counties court judgments pronounced between 2021 and 2023.

It offered four different funeral packages. Prestige, with handmade chest and fleet of Rolls-Royces, costs £4,999. A traditional service and cremation or burial for £2,799. A service in the chapel followed by cremation costs £1,799. And an unattended cremation for £970.

A relative, Wendy Pahlen, told how police asked her family if her aunt, who she believed had been cremated, had any marks or scars. tattoos as they worked to identify the 35 bodies they found.

Wendy, 52, said: “We had a wonderful service. When we walked out, we just left the box there. Now we wonder if she was even in that coffin.

“They just called to say the ashes were ready.

“We used Legacy for my mother-in-law seven years ago. We received her ashes back in a beautiful purple pot with certificate.

“At my aunt’s house we only received a small cardboard box with a name, date of birth and date of death.”

Another worrying sign was a request from Legacy to pay the final bill of £1,600 in cash only. Wendy added: “My cousin is in pieces. He is so distraught and devastated because he doesn’t know where his mother is.”

More than 1,500 families have contacted a police helpline since officers first raided company this week.

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The father and daughter team took over the building in 2010. It was previously occupied by a company called Heavenly Services, which was also investigated by police after the collapse over fraud claims.

One of the customers was Nikki McLoughlin. When her father, Bernard Skerrett, 78, died in October 2021, she discovered the plot he had paid £5,000 for in advance did not exist.

The investigation was halted in October 2021 when Heavenly owner Simon Woolston died at the age of 51. Questions are now being asked about the lack of government regulation for Britain’s £3.1 billion funeral industry.

Funeral directors do not have to register with any organization, although there are two trade organizations. Students only need five GCSEs to enter the profession.

An insider said: “Everyone thinks funeral homes have made a lot of money during Covid, but the opposite has been true. Legacy was one of those companies that was hit hard.

“The intention is for funeral directors to issue surviving relatives certificates regarding cremations, but not all families involved have received one.

“People often don’t realize that they need a certificate, because they are not necessary insurance purposes.”

Council officers in Hull and East Riding, which includes Beverley, are now said to be carrying out inspections of all funeral homes. houses over the entire area.

As shocked locals continued to leave bouquets at Legacy’s property yesterday, stories of heartbreak emerged from stunned relatives.

‘I was smoking’

Martin Stone, 52, believed his mother Susan’s body would be taken for cremation after about 20 friends and relatives gathered for a service at the Palour’s chapel seven weeks ago.

Police have now told the family that one of the bodies recovered from the building had Mrs Stone’s hospital name tag on it – and had not been retained. frozen.

The family had not yet received the 78-year-old’s ashes. Martin, who said his mother’s casket looked “dented” and second-hand, said he was furious when police called him.

I was smoking. Her body has been there for seven weeks. It had just been dumped there and wasn’t even in the freezer

Martin, relative of deceased

He added: “I just wanted revenge for what happened to my mother, it’s disgusting.

“I was smoking. Her body has been there for seven weeks. It was just dumped there and wasn’t even in the freezer.”

Another woman, who lost her mother earlier this year, told The Sun: “My mother’s ashes are being removed for examination. I just can’t believe this is happening.”

The mother, who asked not to be named, added: “You put your trust in funeral directors.”

Billie-Jo Suffill, 33, lost her father Andy, 52, and brother Dwane, 34, within days of each other in July 2022. The mother of three children, who was pictured kissing her father’s coffin during a service in Legacy’s chapel, she said she now wondered if he was in the coffin.

She said: “I never saw my father’s body. I bet he wasn’t even in the coffin, it was empty.

“I was given ashes after my brother’s funeral, but now I don’t even know if they are his ashes, and I never got them from my father.”

Michael Fogg, a funeral director from Sheffield, has been campaigning for regulation and annual inspections of salons for 17 years.

He has organized a petition for the government to regulate the industry and cap funeral prices.

Michael told The Sun: “Anyone can set up a funeral business online and charge people £950 for cremations without even owning a building. I had these companies call me asking if I would dispose of bodies for them, and I said, absolutely not.”

He added that funeral directors do not even have to be members of the relevant industry bodies.

He said: “People put their trust in us. The trade organizations obviously have no influence on this industry. It is a voluntary matter if someone joins.”

Hull MP Emma Hardy has also called for licensing.

She said: “Having spoken to Government ministers, I am now calling for the process of bringing all funeral directors into a regulatory system to begin without delay, starting with a consultation.

“This would be the first step in ensuring that what happened at Legacy will never be repeated.”

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