Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Defence barrister Richard Wright KC says Bush has accepted responsibility and apologised for what he has done.

"There are demands for answers. Where did the money go? What was it spent on?

"The questions assume there are clear answers to explain his behaviour," Wright tells the court.

He lists reasons which were "likely to have played a part" including "greed and incompetence".

Wright says: "There’s no doubt his priority was not his customers or their loved ones.

"That lack of priority may be the best explanation that there is.

"In other words that he prioritised himself, his family and his circumstances over those who entrusted their deceased to his care."

Wright adds: "That may sound callous but that is perhaps the most sensible explanation there is in his case."

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

Richard Wright KC remarks that he acknowledges Bush's offending has caused “extreme emotional pain, anguish and upset”.

“Dignity in death matters and there can be no hiding from the fact by his conduct Robert Bush has deprived the dead... of that basic dignity”.

Wright accepts Bush’s criminal conduct has tainted the memory of every person who has passed through his hands.

There have been many glances at Bush while his defence is speaking.

Wright says Bush has said sorry. Behind me a tut was heard at that remark.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Before making the defence submissions for Robert Bush, Richard Wright KC says: "We do not seek in any way to minimise what he has done.

"He accepts entirely that this case is not simply about money.

"It is about the families that placed their trust in him in moments of profound grief."

Jessica Lane
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

As Bush’s defence barrister starts to speak acknowledging the pain and distress Bush has caused, families in court are watching closely.

Most are staring at the judge. Bush looks up at the judge every now and then.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Defence barrister Richard Wright KC is now addressing the courtroom.

He says there has been "unprecedented global media coverage" over the past two and a half days, reporting what has been said in court.

"It might be said the world has listened after victim after victim of Robert Bush has bravely come forward to read a statement or had it read out on behalf of the Crown.”

Wright says that Bush has "heard the human cost of what he has done".

Jessica Lane
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

Bush is looking ahead right now. He often rapidly blinks as people discuss things in court.

Mr Justice Hilliard is talking to defence barrister Richard Wright KC about dates and times involved in this case.

It covers not only lots of people but also a number of years.

The judge has talked about "systemic offending over a long period of time".

Jessica Lane
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

Mr Justice Hilliard is back in court room four now and so is Robert Bush.

We’re expecting to hear from his defence barrister this afternoon.

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

We’re back in court room four at Hull Crown Court.

There are notably more press and a few more families here this afternoon.

Tissues remain scattered around the public gallery after another morning of harrowing evidence.

Ashes recovered during the police investigation have been reburied in two new memorial gardens.

More than 100 sets of ashes were interred, after next of kin had given instructions for them to be placed in Hull's Northern Cemetery.

A private service for families and loved ones was held by the Bishop of Hull, The Right Reverend Dr Eleanor Sanderson in September 2025.

The garden is one of two, with another at Lelley Fields Crematorium near Preston in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Robert Bush is back in Hull Crown Court today for the third day of his sentencing.

The former funeral director has pleaded guilty to 67 offences, including preventing the burials of 30 people and admitting to giving families the wrong ashes.

With the court now on a break for lunch, here's a reminder of some of the detail we've heard in the court so far today.

• The court heard how Bush assured families he would collect money for charities but that money was never received

• Grieving families were recommended to use Bush for funeral services, with one person told “he was the best”
• Between 2017 and 2024 the total amount of money paid into both Legacy and Bush’s personal accounts was more than £3.5m.
• The court heard graphic details of funeral parlour conditions
• Some of the ashes returned to families who had lost babies “resembled those of animal remains"
• Families had jewellery made with ashes of strangers before being contacted by Humberside Police

We will continue to bring you more from court throughout the afternoon.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The court has now risen for a lunch break.

It will resume at 14:00 BST, but stay with us as we continue our coverage.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Bush previously admitted to stealing money from charity collection boxes over a period of six years and six months.

Prosecution barrister Steven Ball says this offence was "not spontaneous or isolated" and "involved repeated conduct over a period of time".

He describes it as an "abuse of trust and responsibility" and a situation where families involved were "entitled to expect integrity".

"The financial loss can only ever be an estimate. It is between £5,540 and as much as £12,000," Ball tells the court.

The prosecution has also judged the harm factor as high, in category one, due to the "emotional distress to families and those making donations".

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

We’re now hearing about count 67 which relates to the theft from 12 charities.

We heard the details of Bush’s empty promises earlier, in which he told families he’d donate money collected at funerals to their chosen charities, the money never arrived.

Mr Justice Hilliard calls this a “new low”.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The court is now discussing count 61, which relates to fraudulent trading of Legacy funeral plans over a period of 11 years, in which people invested money.

Prosecutor Steven Ball says Bush had told the victims that the funeral plans were "genuine policies", this related to 172 victims.

The total in relation to this offence is £562,000.

Ball says: “This we submit amounts to sustained dishonest trading rather than an isolated fraud.

“The presence of hundreds of victims materially aggravates this offence."

He describes Bush as the "principal organiser" which "increases seriousness" of this offence.

Ball adds the fraud "was not spontaneous or reactive".

“It was a deliberate commercial enterprise designed by him to generate income and fund his and his family’s personal spending," Ball tells the court.

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

The prosecution is going over the suggested sentence for each of the crimes.

It’s important to keep in mind, Bush faces many counts here.

Occasionally Mr Justice Hilliard picks up a large book, presumably to look at case law.

The judge says he does not want to “diminish” people’s pain by giving some counts greater sentences than others.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The prosecution is now discussing count 62, which refers to fraud by false representation in terms of 57 sets of ashes that families received.

This relates to the proper care of remains and the return of ashes.

The court acknowledges that some families went to the extent of getting jewellery made before knowing they had a stranger's ashes in them.

Steven Ball says the prosecution had identified culpability matters for this offence including "abuse of position of power or trust or responsibility, the sophisticated nature of offence and significant planning”.

He says "a large number of victims" also comes into the culpability factors.

He told the court the "approximate value of this fraud" was more than £86,000.

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

We’re now hearing more from the prosecution, which is summarising Bush’s crimes and giving their view on the appropriate sentences for each count the judge is considering.

Every so often Bush lifts his head to look forward, but almost immediately he looks back down.

Four key areas have been highlighted: Abuse of power, sophisticated nature and planning of events,fraudulent activity over a sustained period of time and the large number of victims.

"This is an unprecedented case," says prosecutor Steven Ball.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Warning: this case involves distressing details

The ashes of Tommy Foster, which had been entrusted into the care of Legacy, were also examined by the industry expert.

Stacey Foster and her partner Peter Cooke used Legacy to provide services for Tommy's cremation, after he was found without a heartbeat when she was 17 weeks pregnant.

The court hears the industry expert described his ashes as “being human looking” but in “much greater volume than there should have been for age of baby born at that stage”.

He stated the ashes had "larger pieces of bone granules not in keeping with being ashes of a 17-week old baby”.

Sarah-May Buccieri
Reporting from Hull Crown Court

Steven Ball for the prosecution describes Bush's behaviour to the court as a "gross breach of trust”.

He adds Bush's "decision was to override the wishes of those bereaved and grieving and to mislead them as to how their loved ones had been buried and cremated”.

Eleanor Maslin
BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Warning: this case involves distressing details

Lucy Ness used Legacy after she suffered a miscarriage just before she was due to have her 12-week scan in 2021.

She said she treasured the ashes for three years after her baby had been cremated at Chanterlands Crematorium in Hull.

The court now hears evidence from an industry expert who had "observed the set of ashes presented to him with no official crematorium packaging present or identification to identify them as ashes".

This is in relation to Ness's baby.

The court hears he had described these ashes as "coarse and granular," they "looked out of place and shouldn't be there" and in his opinion were "not baby ashes but those of an adult".

He also says some of the ashes also “resembled those of animal remains in terms of size and texture of granules".