u/DarklyHeritage

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Week 3 onwards of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-online-reactions-b3032806.html

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning.

Bans may also be issued for ignoring the warning and creating standalone posts.

Please comment with this in mind.

Simon Levy, aged 40, is a sex offender who targeted victims on London's Tube system. He has sentenced to life in prison with a whole life tariff, meaning he will never be freed, for the murder of two women and raping a third. He was able to carry out these crimes after a series of failures by the police and Crown Prosecution Service left him at free to offend.

Levy was tried and convicted at London's Old Bailey last week of murdering Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, aged 53, in March 2025 and Sheryl Wilkins, aged 39, in August 2025. Levy suffocated both in sexually motivated attacks.

Carmen Valencia-Trujillo’s body was found in a largely abandoned block of flats on an estate in south east London. Sheryl Wilkins body was left behind a car park wall near Tottenham High Road in north London.

The jury also convicted Levy of two counts of rape, grievous bodily harm with intent and the non-fatal smothering of the third woman. Levy targeted the three women, all described as vulnerable, as they carried out street sex work to fund drug addictions.

Levy also sexually assaulted at least 10 women on rush-hour Tube or overground trains between 24 October 2023 and 29 May 2025. He was convicted earlier in 2026 of 11 counts of sexual assault in in a separate trial.

Investigation Errors

Following Levy’s conviction the Metropolitan Police, British Transport Police and the Crown Prosecution Service each admitted failings in their investigation of Levy, who had been released on bail regarding the Tube system attacks and the rape when he escalated to double murder. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has confirmed a gross misconduct notice has been served on a Metropolitan Police Constable and a misconduct notice on a detective sergeant.

Levy was arrested in November 2024 by British Transport Police for the sexual assaults on the Tube. However, an identification parade was not organised until April 2025, which left Levy free to on bail. During this time he carried out the rape and his first murder, that of Carmen Valencia-Trujillo.

After Carmen's death, Levy was arrested as a suspect but released on bail at two magistrates’ court hearings in May and June 2025 after police said they lacked sufficient evidence to charge him. The Crown Prosecution Service concedes it did not oppose bail for Levy at the first hearing. They also admit the CPS prosecutor failed to give all the relevant information to the court for consideration at the second hearing.

Levy then failed to attend three crown court hearings but no arrest warrant was either requested or issued for him. He murdered Sheryl Wilkins less than a fortnight after one of these hearings. Over the eight months in 2025 when he murdered the two women he also assaulted six women on the Tube and Overground.

As a convicted sex offender, Levy was being monitored by the probation service and police during this time. Levy repeatedly lied to the officers monitoring him during their visits to his home him, telling them he stayed at home watching YouTube and films rather than going out.

>The CPS admitted errors at three court hearings in May, June and August 2025, which ended in Levy remaining free. It would not specify publicly what those were, but a source authorised to speak for the organisation said they included failing to mention he had been arrested for Valencia-Trujillo’s murder, and that it could find no record or mention of Levy’s past sexual assault convictions, nor that he was a suspect in a 2024 rape.

>The CPS said: “We accept there was relevant information regarding bail that was not provided to the court when bail applications were being considered. Our actions fell short of the standards that victims, families and the public are entitled to expect … We could and should have taken a more robust approach to representations about bail.”

Other errors which led to Levy being free include;

> Levy failed to attend three crown court hearings for the train attacks, and the CPS accepts there is no evidence of a warrant being sought for his detention. For two he claimed illness, for the other that he had not been informed. His final non-appearance in crown court was on 11 August 2025. A fortnight later he murdered Wilkins. A CPS source said individuals involved in the Levy case had been disciplined.

>The assaults on the London tube network and trains were investigated by BTP. Officers arrested Levy, who was travelling on a stolen Oyster travel card, but handed it back to him, unaware it was stolen. With it he travelled to south London to commit his first murder, and carried out further sexual assaults on trains.

>BTP admitted the charging of Levy for his sexual assaults on trains in November 2024 was held up because of a delay in holding an identification parade after his arrest. His bail was extended, and during this delay he attacked and raped another woman and murdered Valencia-Trujillo. BTP said it had not referred its errors to the police watchdog. Instead it has moved one officer, who it says delayed the holding of the ID parade, out of investigations, and given a supervisor words of advice.

>BTP identified Levy as a suspect and charged him but never searched his home. Peter Fulton, BTP’s head of crime, said: “There’s a fine line between going fishing and breaching someone’s human rights.” He said that every woman who had reported Levy for attacking them on a train had seen him charged and convicted. When the Met, which investigated the murders, searched Levy’s home, evidence was found about his attack on the prison officer.

>The police watchdog has placed two Met officers under investigation over whether Levy was supervised correctly as a person on the sex offender register. A constable is under investigation for gross misconduct, meaning he could be dismissed. The other officer, under investigation for misconduct, is a detective sergeant.

>The Met downgraded his risk as a sex offender from high to medium in August 2024, in part because Levy was blind in one eye. The attack that damaged his eye occurred days after Levy is alleged to have raped a woman in May 2024 in north London, and detectives believe it was a reprisal for that.

Levy later claim that being partially sighted and "wobbly" on crowded trains led him to commit the assaults

Sentencing

The Evening Standard reports;

>The killings came after Levy subjected a third woman to a brutal sex attackin January last year in the same car park where Ms Wilkins’ body was later found.

>The surviving victim, who suffered a broken collarbone, told police at the time that she had been raped and knew where her attacker lived, but she was not formally interviewed until after Levy had killed twice.

>"I never thought this man would be so evil," she told police after she was left with a broken collarbone when Levy bore down on her with all his weight.

>Judge Martin Evans KC said at an earlier hearing that he carried out "a deliberate, persistent and carefully orchestrated campaign of targeted assaults on women" over a three-year period.

>Sentencing Levy, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, told him: “You are clearly someone who ruthlessly exploits others for your own personal sexual satisfaction.”

>Noting his disturbing internet history and collection of press cuttings about sexual crimes, he stressed that Levy was “someone who appears to have a morbid fascination with sex, rape, and crime”.

>Victims who survived Levy’s attacks branded him a “monster” and a “parasite” as he faced the sentencing hearing.

>Ms Valencia-Trujillo’s children described her as a “big character” and “full of life”. She became a grandmother in 2024 and was said to be a “much-loved” member of the community with a love of salsa dancing.

>Ms Wilkins’ family said she was a much-loved woman and was missed every day by those who knew her.

An appeal has been issued for survivors of sex attacks by Levy to come forward to police, with his sexual offending known to span between 2018 to 2025. In 2021 he was sent to prison for groping two women in 2018, one at Notting Hill Carnival and the other at a party in Camden.

Images

1. Carmen Valencia-Trujillo.

2. Sheryl Wilkins.

3. Image of Levy taken by one of his victims on a Tube train.

4. Levy on CCTV footage from a train station.

5. Levy on CCTV with victim Sheryl Wilkins.

6. Levy leaving the car park after killing Sheryl.

7. Simon Levy.

8. Sheryl and Carmen.

https://news.sky.com/story/simon-levy-sentencing-live-double-murderer-and-rapist-who-attacked-sex-workers-faces-jail-13571922

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cmwyevgl1y78t

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/12/serial-sex-offender-simon-levy-sentenced-double-muder

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/simon-levy-tube-sex-monster-kill-women-london-jail-life-b1293123.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/07/simon-levy-murder-trial-women-london-police-prosecution-errors

This is a Megathread for discussion of the trial of Diane "Keffe D" Davis for his alleged role in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Tupac Shakur died six days after he was shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996. His murder infamously remained unsolved for decades. However, finally 30 years later that may change.

In 2023, former LA gang leader Duane "Keffe D" Davis was charged with murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang after long being a suspect in the case.

Davis pleaded not guilty and now his trial is to begin, jury selection commencing on 10 August.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/aug/10/trial-former-gang-leader-tupac-shakur-murder-duane-keffe-d-davis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmkl1j3dwvo

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/09/arts/music/tupac-shakur-murder-trial-duane-davis.html

At about 10.40pm on 1st April 1991, the Easter Bank Holiday Monday of that year, 43-year-old quantity surveyor Alan Leppard and his 42-year-old partner Brenda Long were settling down for the night in the bedroom of their cottage in the quiet Kent village of Monkton when there was a knock at the door. Within seconds of answering the door Alan had been shot in the chest at point blank range with a 12-bore shotgun. When police arrived at the scene they found Alan was dying in Brenda’s arms.

In an even more shocking turn of events, just 8 months later Brenda herself was discovered dead in the bath of the flat she had moved to following Alan's murder. A suicide note was found beside Brenda, but investigations soon uncovered evidence that Brenda too had been murdered.

The murder of Alan

Alan Leppard and Brenda Long had begun a new life together in the spring of 1991, moving to a cottage in Monkton, Kent just months before Alan's murder. Their cottage was two doors down from the White Stag pub, where they soon became regulars.

Alan and Brenda met when they both worked for P&B Metal Components in Whitstable. Friends described them as happy and with marriage plans. Alan, a father of one, had been married a number of times previously and Brenda had recently ended a relationship with a car dealer, so this should have been a fresh start for the couple.

However, the first hint of what was to follow came three weeks before Alan's murder, though at the time the significance of the event was not realised. The landlord of the White Stag pub later described how, at about 6.15pm one evening when he was opening, a sharply dressed stranger had come into the pub and asked for Alan. He was told Alan was not there and quickly left.

Witnesses later told police that the stranger was wearing a red tie, gold bracelet and gold watch. He was believed to be between 35-38 years of age, with slicked back black hair and piercing eyes. Police came to believe the visit was made in preparation for Alan's murder.

Witnesses in Monkton were to notice something else unusual on the day of Alan's murder - 1st April 1991. Various sightings were noticed of a large white American-style saloon car with distinctive rear fins - perhaps a Cadillac - driving slowly around the village from about 8.30pm. Villagers felt the car seemed out of place and described two men inside seemingly studying the area.

Brenda reported to police that around 10pm she and Alan were in bed watching TV when the white vehicle pulled up outside their cottage and the occupants knocked at the door. She described looking out of the window and seeing two men stood near the car. When she answered the door the car had already left.

However, the car returned less than an hour later and the door was knocked again. This time it was Alan that answered, and he was then shot in the chest.

In the following weeks Brenda was to appear on BBC Crimewatch to appeal for Alan's killers to be caught. She described the events of that evening;

>“He went out the door and then there was an almighty bang and a scream."

>“I went to go outside and I went to the corner of the back of the cottage. Alan came around the corner and as he came towards me must have moved his hands as I was completely covered in blood.

>“I started screaming. I think he said ‘get in!’ because he was worried for me.

>“He was just a grey colour and he was just going. There was nothing I could do to stop him.”

Despite bleeding heavily Alan was able to stagger into the couple's living room, before dying in Brenda’s arma soon after.

Police commenced a murder investigation and the white Cadillac-style vehicle soon became a focus, although its make was never confirmed. They produced e-fits of borh the driver of the car and the well-dressed man seen asking for Alan in the White Stag. A reconstruction of the crime was shown on BBC Crimewatch, resulting in around 950 calls from the public but no information leading to arrests.

Brenda’s death

After Alan's murder, Brenda moved away from Monkton to Whitstable, Kent in an effort to rebuild her life. Police later indicated they had no reason to believe Brenda's life was at risk in the months after Alan died, and described her as just beginning to get back on her feet.

However, just 8 months after Alan's death, on 28th December 1991, Brenda was found dead in the bath at her flat. Brenda was seen alive by her sister on Christmas Day 1991, and they spoke again on Boxing Day 1991. On Boxing Day she spent time with former boyfriend Arthur Hibbert, who she had previously been in a relationship with for 12 years before her relationship with Alan. It is also suggested by some sources that Hibbert was the person who discovered her body.

Police initially believed Brenda had died by suicide due to what they found at the scene - a suicide note and, floating in the bath, an empty pill container.

Whilst performing a post-mortem examination on Brenda, pathologist Dr Alexander Gibson noticed a strong chemical smell coming from her body. Tests were performed which revealed diethyl ether - which can cause unconsciousness when inhaled - was present.

Dr Gibson also identified bruising on both sides of Brenda’s nose. It was the combination of these two findings that lead Dr Gibson to conclude Brenda had been murdered, with her having been rendered unconsciousthen drowned in the bath. Dr Gibson said;

>“Someone applied the ether to her face by means of a pad without consent...She had been drinking and it is likely that she lost consciousness very quickly, possibly in just a few seconds, when the ether was administered."

>“This was a deliberate and violent assault.”

A detective from a cold case review team examining the case said:

>"Initially her death looked like suicide, but a post-mortem examination established that she had diethyl ether in her bloodstream and marks around her face and mouth, which suggested that she had been put to sleep and then drowned."

A coroners inquest returned a verdict of unlawful killing in Brenda’s death and the media dubbed the men seen in the white car “The Ether Killers”.

Unsolved and Mystery Motive

Police believe Alan's killing may have been a professional hit, but motive remains unknown 35 years on. They have stated that neither Alan nor Brenda had known enemies or criminal connections. Detective Superintendent Nick Biddiss (now deceased) led to murder investigation and became close to Brenda while investigating Alan’s death. He described her as;

>“She was a very likeable, affable, popular person. She didn’t have an evil bone in her body. There was no reason to suggest they were involved in any criminality whatsoever. They were tragic victims."

>“It’s a mystery. We don’t know why two men came to Monkton and blasted away her other half.”

>"You cannot look at one murder without looking at the other.

>"Brenda Long was a key witness to the Alan Leppard murder that Easter weekend.

>"In the nine months after Alan's death I regularly updated Brenda on the inquiry and, as a key witness to his murder, we had a duty of care to look after her welfare and safety."

In 2011 police said they were no closer to establishing a motive for either murder and that;

>"We can't say definitively that the two deaths were linked but there is every chance there is a connection between the two."

35 years on, a cold case team still reviews the case periodically and DCI Neil Kimber said:

>“Unsolved cases, such as the 1991 murders of Alan Leppard and Brenda Long, are subject to regular reviews by the Cold Case Team using the latest advances in technology and forensics.

>“Unfortunately, at this stage, there have been no new developments and reviews will continue. No case is ever closed, and we will never stop working to secure justice for victims and their families.

It is hoped that advances in DNA technology will give detectives information unavailable previously and that the mystery of Alan and Brenda’s murders may yet be solved.

Images

1. Alan Leppard.

2. Brenda Long.

3. Brenda during her appearance on BBC Crimewatch.

4. Brenda during her appearance on BBC Crimewatch.

5. The White Stag pub.

6. BBC Crimewatch depiction of the man who asked for Alan in the pub.

7. BBC Crimewatch reconstruction of the car seen in the area.

8. E-fits of the occupants of the car.

9. A video-fit of one suspect.

10. A video fit of a second suspect.

11. A police appeal poster.

12. Media coverage.

There is some interesting discussion of this case at this Reddit thread;

https://www.reddit.com/r/ColdCaseUK/s/raFrYwSLSr

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-16354385

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/unsolved-the-easter-monday-shooting-and-the-bathtub-murder-338489/

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/gunned-down-and-drowned-the-double-murder-which-shocked-ke-248074/

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Week 2 onwards of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://apnews.com/article/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-psychiatric-hospital-c977c42546d3b496df6d44924149451b

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning.

Please comment with this in mind.

Robert Bush, a funeral director, has pleaded guilty to offences 67 offences of fraud, preventing the lawful and decent burial of a body, and theft concerning his activities whilst running a funeral business called Legacy between 2012-2024 in the Hull area of Yorkshire, UK. Bush was this week sentenced to 20 years in prison for his offences.

Bush left dozens of bodies (including a miscarried baby boy) “rotting” in his mortuary and gave bereaved families ashes which did not belong to their relative. Several families even had the wrong ashes turned into jewellery and incorporated in tattoos.

Bush offended on a scale the prosecution called “industrial” causing, as Bush's defence conceded in this week's sentencing hearing, anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension. Over 200 families were affected and a total of £562,117 confirmed to have been defrauded. The full scale of Bush's offending may well be unknown.

The judge remarked that as a result of Bush's crimes,

>unless a body was one of those actually recovered by the police from Legacy in 2024 and thus properly identified, no one who had a cremation with Legacy at any time can actually know for certain whether they received the ashes of their loved one, whether or not their case features in the indictment...

>I do not think that I have ever known offences affect so many people, and so many people so deeply.

Bush pleaded guilty on 15 October 2025 to 30 counts of fraud by false representation, one count of fraudulent trading, one count of fraud by false representation with 57 victims; and 4 further counts of fraud by false representation.

Initially Bush pleaded not guilty to 30 counts of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body (in this case, it was agreed that burial means the final arrangements made for a deceased person and thus includes a cremation) and one count of theft, with a trial set for 5 October 2026. However, then pleaded guilty to those counts on 2 April 2026.

A sentencing hearing, with victim impact statements from multiple victims heard in Court, took place this week and on 31 July 2026 Bush was sentences to 20 years in prison.

What was found at Legacy

It was on 6 March 2024 that the state of the Legacy premises in Hessle Road, Hull, became known when two funeral directors from another business in Hull were asked by Bush to recover a body from his Hessle Road branch while he was away on holiday in Arizona, USA. The two colleagues were so disturbed by what they found at the premises that they flagged down a passing police car and a police investigation began.

Police found half a tonne of human ashes and 35 bodies in varying states of decomposition at the premises, 30 of which Bush was charged over. The families of all these deceased whose bodies were recovered had been tied to believe by Robert Bush that cremations of their relative had been carried out when they had not. In 20 of the 30 cases ashes had been returned to many of them purporting to be the ashes of their relatives when they could not have been.

The investigation revealed some of the bodies had been kept at Legacy for a long time. The following are the times remains had been kept;

• 1 died in April 2023;

• 1 died in June 2023;

• 2 died in July 2023;

• 2 died in August 2023;

• 5 died in September 2023;

• 2 died in October 2023;

• 8 died in November 2023;

• 5 died in December 2023;

• 3 died in January 2024;

• 1 died on 8 February 2024.

Most of the bodies found at the site were left uncovered on racks on either side of a cold storage area, with one naked body found on a stretcher on the floor, and two bodies on the floor itself. Evidence of decomposition was visible on the floor and racks. Some bodies had hospital identity bracelets or biological hazard bracelets on wrists or ankles, while others had no identifying markersin ehat an expert described as clearly inadequate identification of the deceased. Conditions inside were described as dreadful.

Police described the funeral parlour as "chaotic and extremely disorganised" with half-empty vessels of ashes and the personal possessions of the deceased "strewn everywhere" The SIO described finding "clear evidence of human ash" on work surfaces and on a floor.

An expert report presented at Bush's sentencing hearing described the appalling conditions and lack of care for the deceased. The expert described how the deceased had not been washed or dressed and a number of them were lying in pools of bodily fluids. As well as failing in identification, there was no form of mortuary register found evidencing who was present.

A large amount of unidentified clothing had been accumulated, some of it in piles on the floor, likely clothing relatives had wanted the deceased dressed in when cremated. Also strewn around the premises were large quantities of family photographs, evidently intended to be placed in coffins but this not having been done. One relative described how a photo found with the body of their family member at the Hessle Road site was unknown to them - a photo of a stranger, presumably intended to have been placed in that person's coffin, tossed alongside another deceased remains.

As well as conditions in the cold room, many non-public-facing areas were in a terrible state. The expert report outlined excrement on the floor of a lavatory; many rooms suffering from damp and mould; and rooms with ceilings collapsing.

Most cremated remains on the premises were stored in an undignified way. Boxes of ashes were found in many areas, sometimes with the boxes appeaeing mouldy and damp. No systematic method of recording, storing or identifying where ashes were was apparent.

Bush had claimed to police that he had been having issues with the refrigeration equipment and had saved money by not running all available units. The judge didn't believe this, remarking;

>I have no doubt whatsoever that there was plenty of money available to repair or run units if he had only chosen to apply it in that way.

Stillborn babies

4 distressing counts of fraud by false representation relate to babies of between 7-18 weeks gestation that families asked Bush to cremated and who were given false ashes by Bush.

One case was that of a baby named Sunny, whose remains were found in a paper bag on the floor and initially mistaken for the remains of a small bird by police. Sunny’s family had received ashes from Bush he claimed were Sunny's, and which experts have since stated likely belonged to a young adult or adult. It was noted that these ashes weighed more than Sunny had weighed when he was born. Sunny had been in Legacy for almost 2 years. The SIO described how "it almost broke the officers when they found Sunny on the floor".

Another case was Baby Woolston, whose actual remains were from the hospital by Bush after he had already presented other ashes to his parents. Again expert’s state these ashes were not original baby ashes. In a third case ashes bearing Baby Tommy were found at Legacy despite his parents having been presented ashes purporting to be his by Bush, ashes which again experts believe do not belong to a baby.

Finally, Bush presented ashes in an urn to the mother of Baby Ness before he had collected the right ashes. Baby Ness's real ashes have never been recovered. When police analysed the contents of the urn Bush gave the family it contained wadding and pieces of bone which could not have been those of a 12-week gestation baby. Again, some ashes were the ashes of an adult.

Other offences

Bush was convicted of preventing the lawful and decent burial of the 30 bodies recovered in March 2024. In addition, he was convicted of 30 counts of fraud by false representation relating to these 30 deceased, having been paid on the basis that he would take proper care of the remains of the deceased, would arrange cremation immediately or soon after the funeral service, and that ashes provided were the ashes of the deceased person. The total value he defrauded on these counts was £48,890.

Bush was also convicted of a compendious count of fraud by false representation for crimes between 2017 and March 2024. 57 additional families had paid a funeral where Bush again falsely represented that he would take proper care of remains, arrange cremation and return the correct ashes. In around 40 of these cases, the deceased were kept at Legacy for over a month before cremation, and often much longer - some were kept for between 141-266 days. No ashes were ever returned in 11 of these cases.

In 46 cases, relatives have been proven to have received the wrong ashes. Almost all those families now have nothing left of their relative as their ashes could not be traced by police. In some instances police recovered an empty plastic bag labelled with the individuals name which had contained their ashes at some point, or a bag labelled with their ID with just a teaspoonful of ash remaining. The total value defrauded on this count was £86,868.

Another count of fraudulent trading involved Bush dishonestly selling funeral plans to 226 people, totalling £562,117. The plans were sold on the understanding the money would be held with Legacy or by a third-party insurer. Financial regulations stipulate for such arrangements that client money should be held securely in a separate bank account. Bush had not transferred any money to a third-party insurer, but transferred it into the bank personal accounts of himself and his wife.

Bush conned his victims by using fraudulent paperwork purporting to show that funeral plans were held with legitimate providers. 16 of those who had bought such plans died before the police investigation and Bush did provide funerals to them at a total cost of £37,408. This fraud has left many people who thought they had protected their family financially against the burden of a funeral without such protection, and out of pocket.

Bush also stole money collected at funerals held at Legacy which was intended to be donated to charity in memory of the deceased, with 12 charities deprived of funds as a result. Families were told Bush would send the money to the charities, but the charities never received the money. He stole at least £5540, likely more, this way.

Why?

The question of why Bush committed these offences remains. When interviewed by police Bush blamed cash flow problems. Early in the police investigation Bush was asked why "25 or so bodies" had not been cremated when they should have been;

>"The debt started to accrue. The level of cash flow problems that I was having... It presented an opportunity that I did not have to maybe do it immediately (get the deceased cremated). If I held on to (the bodies) for a little bit and back-filled another one and catch up. But I didn't catch up."

Bush accepted he should have contacted the council's bereavement services and apologised to his victims.

>"I know that this has hurt people," he said. "I am so sorry for the hurt caused, but I never wanted it to be like this. It wasn't my plan. It was poor choices."

However, the judge rejected Bush's financial explanation, saying;

>The defendant was to tell the police that the bodies had not been cremated because of cash flow problems. I reject that entirely and without hesitation. There was no problem with the flow of cash as such. The only problem was with the direction in which the cash was flowing.

The judges sentencing remarks reveal what he believes motivated Bush, namely money;

>The defendant was so preoccupied with his own enrichment that he behaved in a shocking and disgraceful way towards the deceased entrusted to his care, and his behaviour towards their living relatives was characterised by dishonesty, deception and heartlessness. If he could re-use a coffin that someone had already paid for, he would do so. It if was cheaper not to keep the deceased in refrigerated conditions, he would do that too. The premises at Hessle Road were in an appalling state.

>I am satisfied that in order to maximise his dishonest profit, the defendant paid as little attention as he thought he could get away with when dealing with those who were entrusted to him. He saw, for example, no need to pay for adequate refrigeration. He spent other people’s money on improvements to his own home whilst the Hessle Road premises were in a deplorable state. There was obviously a cost to carrying out a cremation, but he would only pay that when it suited him to do so, or when personal expenditure permitted, rather than when he had agreed to or when proper practice or common decency demanded. He was in Arizona on holiday when these offences were discovered. He must have chosen not to spend the cost of his holiday on cremating some of those who were at Legacy.

Over the period of March 2017 to April 2024, just over £3 million was received in Legacy bank accounts and Bush’s personal accounts, as well as £369,000 transferred from those accounts to the Bush's wife’s accounts. Bush claimed the transfers to his wife were for tax reasons and she hadn't worked for the business. The judge said;

It is clear that the defendant benefited very substantially from his fraudulent conduct. He obviously lived well, enjoying expensive holidays and the like."

Bush had spent over £42,000 on holidays over the indictment period as well as spending money defrauded on home improvements and expensive hobbies such as motorbikes (some of which were found strewn around the Hessle Road premises).

Sentencing remarks

The judges sentencing remarks are linked in the sources, and below he sums up the harm done by Bush well;

>Hard though it is to believe, so little was the regard he had for the deceased, or for the feelings of their relatives, that he would provide them with what purported to be the ashes of a particular person at a time when that person had not in fact been cremated at all. Whose ashes he provided, or indeed what he actually provided at all on some occasions, we cannot know. It is not always clear which deceased person was even in the coffin at the time of what purported to be their funeral service at Legacy.

>Imagine the feelings of someone who scattered the ashes they were given, at what for them was a particularly meaningful location, perhaps because they would be mingled with the ashes of another relative, only to find out after the police investigations that they had not scattered the ashes of their loved one at all. It must have been someone else’s ashes. Imagine the feelings of someone who had some of the ashes they were given made into a trinket of some kind to wear as a comfort and a remembrance of a departed relative, only to find that they had been given the ashes of a completely different person. Imagine the feelings of parents on discovering that they had not been given their baby’s ashes but an unknown person’s ashes or something else altogether. And now they have nothing. These are examples of the harms the defendant has done.

Further offences

Det Supt Al Curtis from Humberside Police said he feared they have "just scratched the surface" of Bush's crimes. Curtis said "the saddest thing" was that he could not reassure previous customers that Bush "acted wholly appropriately" in relation to their loved ones.

Curtis does not believe Bush demonstrated remorse and says he still does not understand "what's gone on in Robert Bush's head".

Images

1. The victims whose remains were found at the Legacy premises.

2. Robert Bush.

3. Ashes found at the Legacy premises and bagged up by police.

4. Family possessions on the floor at Legacy.

5. Police searching the Hessle Road premises.

6. Families outside court.

7. A branch of Legacy.

8. Bush.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg35errde5o

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1e1g5vjn4jo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qykzqxw5qo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qykzqxw5qo

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Robert-Bush-sentencing-Final.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/31/hull-funeral-director-robert-bush-jailed

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/robert-bush-hull-funeral-director-victims-b3022137.html

Victims

Thirty people whose bodies were found at the funeral home:

• Norman Bridger

• Jonathan Butler

• Muriel Winning

• Raymond Dagnall

• Colin Wainman

• Maureen Graham

• Susan Gorbutt

• Shirley Wright

• Mark Hotham

• John Carlill

• Joyce Moulton

• Terence Buck

• David Burton

• Audrey Leach

• Danny Middleton

• Tony Munro

• Jessie Stockdale

• Peter Moody

• Jean Collinson

• Alan Gray

• Hilda Mary Rhodes

• Stephen Perrins

• Joan Stark

• Brian Johnson

• Graham Finn

• Terence White

• Susan Stone

• Herbert James Porter

• Peter Brown

• Julie Webb

Four “foetus allegations” where Bush falsely told mothers the ashes he gave them were the remains of their unborn children

• Jasmine Beverley

• Katie Woolston

• Stacey Foster

• Lucy James-Guest Ness

Fifty-seven victims of fraud over ashes

• Michelle Drewry

• Shelly Chearman

• Richard Collins

• Brooke Atkinson

• Linda Hall

• Billie-Jo Chapman

• Petrina Featherstone

• Carl Osler

• Dianne Scandole

• Carol Brown

• David Greensides

• Norma Ellam

• Maxine Penrose

• Sharon Shimmells

• Claire Wilkinson

• Mark Anderson

• Kadie Laws

• Tracy Hudson

• Paul Whitehead

• Harry Welsh

• Tracey Hartley

• Jackie Delaney

• Jillian Townhill

• Christine Colville

• Kirstie Hobden

• Michelle Martin

• Donald Leslie Brigham

• Lee Clark

• Curtis Neylon

• Susan Brown

• Gillian Owst

• Sheila Robinson

• Brett Moses

• Richard Shaw

• Mandy Bailey

• Valerie Coates

• James Meikleham

• Yvonne Robinson

• Heather Welford

• Michael Endall

• Debra Lawson

• Joyce Rispin

• Peter Welburn

• Samantha Rosenquest

• Lisa Thompson-Frazer

• Sylvia Rawson

• Mark Hague

• Lynn Farmery

• Macey Urry

• Kirsty Young

• Tracey Brigham

• Bille-Jo Suffill

• Jill Hall

• Brendon Brown

• Rebecca Windas

• Sophie Tibbles-Carrott

• Rebecca Thompson

150 people sold fraudulent funeral plans between 2012 and 2024

Twelve charities that Bush stole from by failing to pass on donations collected at funerals

• Salvation Army

• MacMillan Cancer Support

• CHIEF

• Dogs Trust

• Dove House

• Help for Heroes

• Maister Lodge

• Oakwood Dog Rescue

• RNLI

• Sailors Children Society

• WISHH

• Hull Fishing Heritage Charity

This is a thread for all conversation regarding D4vd and the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, which is currently at the preliminary hearing stage at a Los Angeles Court. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

21-year-old singer D4Vd, whose legal name is David Burke, is accused of killing 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose their relationship and damage his music career. Celeste’s dismembered body was found in the trunk of d4vd’s car, parked close to his LA home, in September 2025.

Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and mutilating human remains.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/24/us/d4vd-celeste-rivas-hernandez-hearing-los-angeles

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr592qdj1ldo