After news broke that a funeral home in Hull had been discovered with 35 bodies, Mark Hotham’s family had a “gut feeling” that he was one of Robert Bush’s victims.

The 87-year-old was the last person to be identified after police made the gruesome discovery at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in March 2024.

By that time, he had been lying dead for over half a year, with his family unsure who was in the coffin at his funeral.

“Bless him, he wasn’t changed at all and had been left in the clothes he had died in,” his nephew Nigel Hotham told The Independent. “They had left his emergency fall assistance pendant around his neck. He was just left in a body bag for six months.”

Bush, 48, had abused the trust placed in him by families on an “almost industrial scale” by keeping bodies for months after they should have been cremated, giving out the wrong ashes, stealing charity donations and taking money for fraudulent funeral plans.

He was jailed on Friday at Hull Crown Court for 20 years. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Hilliard said Bush’s offending had caused “anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension” and that “no sentence can put right the harm the defendant has done.”

He added Bush was motivated by “financial greed” and had a “heartless side to him too”.

Upon being told by police that his uncle was one of the bodies, Mr Hotham said: “A sergeant who I knew rang me and said, ‘Nig, I think we’ve got Mark.’

“That line will stick in my head for the rest of my life. My throat went really dry, the room was spinning and I felt sick. I phoned my sister who lives in Lincolnshire and she became hysterical.”

The five-day sentencing has been a traumatic process, with Mr Hotham left shocked after Bush walked past them “nonchalantly” before entering the dock.

Police were called to Legacy after concerns were raised about the treatment of the deceased, and discovered 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes.

“I despise him, I don’t forgive him and I never, ever will,” Mr Hotham said.

In emotional scenes, more than 80 people told Hull Crown Court how “evil” and “callous” Bush had devastated their lives, with the judge told the funeral home was akin to a “horror scene”.

Jasmine Beverley and her partner Ben were left distraught after their son Sunny was “born sleeping”. They had left his body at Legacy alongside a photograph and a blue fleece blanket.

They were handed his ashes inside an envelope in March 2023, but his remains were discovered in a brown paper bag almost two years after he was born.

Through tears, she told Bush: “I trusted you with the most precious person in my life.”

They were not the only bereaved parents to have their trust abused by Bush, who pleaded guilty to four “foetus fraud” allegations.

During this period, he spent more than £42,000 on holidays while he was defrauding scores of customers.

He also spent £9,000 on camping and almost £7,000 on motorcycle racing in the year he told Ms Beverley her unborn baby had been cremated, with one of his victims describing him as a “cruel conman”.

Financial records submitted to the court showed that between 2017 and 2024, when he was arrested, Bush spent more than £42,000 on holidays, £21,000 on motorcycle racing and £17,400 on home improvements.

Despite his friendly facade, certain families had expressed concerns about the service their loved ones had received. Jim Porter’s daughter Tina Thomas noticed at his funeral that the coffin did not look big enough for him.

The 80-year-old’s body was later recovered from Legacy with his hospital identification bands still on his wrist and ankle.

Another woman had noticed Bush’s strange behaviour while organising a funeral for her father Shane Atkinson, in which he made comments like: “It’s been a pleasure working with your dad this week. I’ve had a lot of fatties in this week, it’s been hard work, and your dad is little.”

There were gasps in court as forensic scientist Dr Richard Lloyd described the “lamentable state” of the mortuary in Hessle Road, with unidentified ashes in mouldy boxes.

Dr Lloyd said the first stages of cleansing did not appear to have been carried out on any of the deceased, and it appeared “bodies were simply abandoned… for nature to take its course”.

The court heard there was a large quantity of unidentified clothing, which probably should have been for dressing the deceased, meaning this “last office” service was routinely not carried out.

Bush had also stolen money from 12 charities by not passing on donations collected at his funeral services, including the Salvation Army, Macmillan Cancer Support, Help for Heroes, the RNLI and some local groups.

Echoing calls from families, one of the industry bodies representing funeral directors said it was time for statutory regulation.

Andrew Judd, chief executive of the National Association of Funeral Directors, told The Independent: “The problem we have is that membership of our trade association or some of the other ones is entirely elective.

“We are resolute that people will join and remain in our membership because they have nothing to hide and they want to be the best we can be and the services we provide help with that.

“Membership of our association comes with strings attached. If anyone is in active membership, they are subject to routine unannounced inspections.

“Currently, if a funeral director chooses not to join the trade association, nobody has access to their business and there is no mandatory requirement for inspection.”

Earlier this year, Richard Elkin and Hayley Bell were jailed for four years by a judge who heard details of decomposing bodies covered in maggots and lying in their own fluids at their funeral business in Gosport, Hampshire.

Families involved in this case called for government action. They were supported by Gosport’s Tory MP Caroline Dinenage, who raised the issue in parliament, saying: “The case highlighted that the funeral sector is nothing better than a lawless Wild West.”