Inside horror funeral parlour with bodies left to rot, families given wrong ashes & ’empty coffins at ceremonies’

AS police tentatively pushed open the door to the rear of the funeral home the smell of decay hit immediately.

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

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

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

Other families say police have requested the ashes they received for DNA testing.

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

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

The pair are keen motorcyclists and own top-of-the range bikes, which are said to have been stored in a garage at the funeral premises.

Saskya’s Instagram pictures show her enjoying lunch with pals, on her motorbike at Cadwell Park track in Lincolnshire and on a sunshine holiday to Cape Verde.

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

Donations to charities

Humberside Police, which describes it as a “truly horrific incident”, also raided two other parlours belonging to the company — one in Hull and a second eight miles away in Beverley.

In what is Britain’s biggest ever probe into a funeral home, the force last night revealed they have called in Britain’s answer to the FBI.

Cops are being helped by experts and advisers from the National Crime Agency, which usually deals with high-profile cases such as drug smuggling and people trafficking.

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

Now we are wondering if she was even in that coffin

Wendy, relative of deceased

The Sun understands that complaints have also been made over donations to charities collected at services.

The funeral parlour was on the brink of being struck off the register and dissolved within two months unless it filed accounts this week. It also faced being struck off last year.

According to reports, Legacy is more than £62,000 in debt and has seven unpaid county court judgements, issued between 2021 and 2023.

It offered four different funeral packages. Prestige, with handcrafted coffin and fleet of Rolls-Royces, costing £4,999. A traditional service and cremation or burial at £2,799. A service at its chapel followed by cremation costing £1,799. And an unattended cremation at £970. A cremation can cost funeral directors upwards of £500.

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

Wendy, 52, said: “We had a beautiful service. As we walked out we just left the coffin there. Now we are wondering if she was even in that coffin. They just rang to say the ashes were ready.

“We’d used Legacy for my mother-in-law seven years ago. We received her ashes back in a proper purple jar with a certificate.

“With my aunt, all we got was a small cardboard box with a name, date of birth and the date she died.”

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 bits. He is just so distraught and devastated because he doesn’t know where his mum is.”

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

The father and daughter team took over the premises in 2010. It had previously been occupied by a company called Heavenly Services, which was also probed by cops over fraud claims after its collapse.

One of its customers was Nikki McLoughlin. When her dad, 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 dropped in October 2021 when Heavenly owner Simon Woolston died aged 51. Questions are now being asked about the lack of government regulation for Britain’s £3.1billion funeral industry.

Funeral directors do not need to register with any organisations, although there are two trade bodies. Apprentices need just five GCSEs to enter the profession.

An insider said: “Everyone thinks funeral parlours made a mint during Covid, but the opposite was true. Legacy was one of those that it hit hard. Funeral directors are meant to give families certificates in relation to cremations, but not all the families involved were given one. People don’t tend to realise they should have a certificate because they’re not needed for insurance purposes.”

Council officials in Hull and also East Riding, which covers Beverley, are now said to be carrying out inspections of all funeral homes across the area.

As shocked locals continued to leave bouquets outside Legacy’s premises yesterday, stories of heartbreak emerged from bewildered relatives.

‘I was fuming’

Martin Stone, 52, believed his mum Susan’s body would be taken off for cremation after around 20 friends and relatives gathered for a service in the palour’s chapel seven weeks ago.

Police have now told the family that one of the bodies retrieved from the building had Mrs Stone’s hospital name tag on — and had not been kept frozen.

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

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

Martin, relative of deceased

He added: “I just wanted to get revenge because of what happened to my mum, it’s disgusting.

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

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

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

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

She said: “I never got to see my dad’s body. I bet he wasn’t even in the coffin, that it was empty.

“I got ashes after my brother’s funeral but now I don’t even know if they are his ashes and I never got any from my dad.”

Sheffield funeral director Michael Fogg has been campaigning for regulation and annual inspections of parlours for 17 years.

He has organised a petition for the Government to regulate the sector and cap funeral prices.

Michael told The Sun: “Anyone can set up a funeral business online charging people £950 for cremations without even owning premises. I’ve had these companies call asking me to dispose of bodies for them and I’ve said absolutely not.”

He added that funeral directors do not even need to be members of the relevant trade organisations.

He said: “People put their trust in us. The trade organisations obviously have no effect on this industry. It’s 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 under a regulatory system to begin without delay, starting with a consultation.

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