Robert Bush (Image: -)
The mother of a stillborn baby has described her distress after a funeral director kept his remains in an envelope on the cold room floor for almost two years.
Jasmine Beverley was one of hundreds of victims of funeral director Robert Bush, who is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court after breaching the trust of grieving families.
Her son, Sunny, was born stillborn at about 18 weeks and she believed he had been given a funeral and cremated.
But, instead, his tiny remains lay on the floor of the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises, kept in what looked to a police officer to resemble an evidence bag.
Chris Paxton KC, prosecuting, told the court: “In this bag was a white cotton pad.
Beckside branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Director (Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
“It looked like a dressing-type pad used by hospitals.
“[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.”
The baby had two wristbands around his waist identifying that he was born to Ms Beverley in May 2022.
Mr Bush is currently being senetenced at Hull Crown Court, where he faces a week-long sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to 67 offences, including 30 counts of preventing a lawful and decent burial.
As the scandal of how Bush had been operating his business came to light, police told her about her son.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme on Monday, she said: “I discovered that he was still in there almost two years after we’d had the funeral and had him cremated, which wasn’t the case.
“He was found inside the cold store on the floor in an envelope, and it was quite a distressing time to discover that what you thought had happened, hadn’t actually happened.”
Sunny’s loved ones were eventually told where his remains had been kept.
His mother said: “We’d always wondered where he’d been found, and we didn’t know whether or not it was with the rest of the people.
“When we found out he was there with everybody, it sort of gave me a little peace that he wasn’t on his own.”
Ms Beverley said Bush appeared “lovely” but “had a lot of people fooled” by his respectful manner.
She said it has been more than 18 months since families affected by the scandal went to Westminster to call for government action to tighten regulations in the funeral industry.
She said: “I don’t understand why they’re dragging their heels on this, because most crematoriums and funeral directors have a best practice.
“We just want to see that best practice put into play in law to make sure that is regulated.”