Owner of Legacy Funeral Directors not ready for pleas

47-YEAR-OLD APPEARS IN COURT BUT DEFENCE SAYS IT NEEDS MORE TIME

- By MARK NAYLOR

THE owner of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors has appeared in court but has not yet entered pleas to the more than 60 charges he faces including 30 counts of preventing a lawful burial.

Robert Bush, 47, formerly of Kirk Ella but now of Otley, near Leeds, appeared at Hull Crown Court on Wednesday, August 13, for a plea, trial and preparation hearing, where he was expected to enter pleas to 65 counts.

It comes after a ten-month investigation, previously described by Humberside Police as “comprehensive and lengthy” into the funeral business which had two branches in Hull and one in Beverley.

Ashes and 35 bodies were removed from Legacy’s Hessle Road premises during the investigation. In July 2024, officers confirmed they had identified more than 160 families linked to the recovered ashes.