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My name's trust in Essex and I'm

0:54

caught in this on the fourth of

0:56

April. Twenty Twenty Four. Sobbing

1:01

came from my grandma. For seven

1:03

years now, I left school and

1:05

went straight into Karen. Recently.

1:09

Things have been hard for my

1:11

Grandma. She's been struggling with cancer.

1:13

She also struggled with dementia. Me

1:17

and my not are such a strong

1:19

bond he know should brought me up

1:21

as a kid. She's. More like a

1:23

I'm Summer to be honest should my best

1:25

friend. Twenty.

1:29

Four year old Twist in Essex lives

1:31

in have a nice riding of Yorkshire

1:34

just off the busy has a load.

1:36

It's where his grandmother Jesse Stockdale grew

1:38

up with a working in some assholes,

1:40

many fish factories and later was a

1:42

cleaner and the medical equipment manufacturer Smith

1:44

a nephew. Shot such a big

1:47

family you know? shot some wonderful

1:49

kids and grandkids and she wishes

1:51

well known by everyone. I mean.

1:53

It. Should just walk down the street and should be

1:56

say no high You are right Are you doing?

1:58

Should stop and talk for hours and hours. I

2:02

met Tristan in the full bloom of

2:04

the two bedroom terraced house he shared

2:06

with his Nana as a photograph of

2:08

her hanging on the wall on the

2:11

fireplace as a small blessed some back.

2:13

It was Jesse's crammed full of

2:15

her belongings and exactly she left

2:18

it. Person. Could have

2:20

talked for hours about her and that bond.

2:22

As you've heard, his plight articulate,

2:24

but he wouldn't be interviewed. His.

2:27

Wounds struggles with anxiety so

2:29

instead I left him with

2:31

a microphone. So. That he could

2:33

will lay his story in his own time. As.

2:36

Time passed by. My grandmother scare him

2:38

off rail. Than. Said almost.

2:41

She. Fellow. She.

2:43

Was rushed to whole island family. Pressure.

2:46

Pastor were fought to minutes were. Leaving.

2:49

Is absolutely devastated. Percentage.

2:52

Remember the walls close in in. A

2:55

my grandma taken a las for. Eighty

2:59

nine year old Jesse died in

3:01

November last year. Trust

3:03

him with the best. That. He

3:05

was determined to give his none of

3:07

the most dignified sendoff he in the

3:09

rest of his family could have. food.

3:12

With it just been such a

3:14

shock on has not been prepared.

3:16

Wasn't in like a financial situation

3:19

to be applesauce faulty from the

3:21

basic of funerals look repetitive the

3:23

election com. Twisted. Went

3:26

with Legacy Independent Funeral Directors.

3:28

A family from run by

3:30

Robert Bus. He'd promised

3:32

to take care of all the arrangements

3:35

to the funeral before that twist and

3:37

than his sister Claire went to see

3:39

just his body at the company's chaplains

3:42

West half a mile away from his

3:44

home. Some. Of what

3:46

you about to here is quite classic.

3:49

Those success an unpleasant smell.

3:52

The second you walked into the building

3:54

and I mean up never smile on

3:56

my to perform allies on some at

3:58

me. But.

4:01

With not know when white should

4:03

smell like we didn't think nothing

4:05

of it which is follow. These.

4:08

A funeral directors for to smell like

4:10

this. When I saw

4:12

the coffin my heart stops.

4:15

It meant no assets at making a present

4:17

Zippo. I can just see

4:19

allows a has to sweat. I

4:22

says to do what the same. She

4:24

looks uncomfortable had just so

4:27

it follows. The

4:29

thing is it com black. The. Entire

4:31

cause. Her was just in goal.

4:33

Steamed a block. Sick mouths. A

4:36

coffin. Lots, as I said, been

4:38

matched awarded actually soaked up. The.

4:41

Moisture. At

4:43

his know what to do. I

4:46

did miss this was normal. I

4:49

just out there and. So. She knows

4:51

I'm is that. Around

4:53

thrills of the Coffin. There

4:57

was blood. To

4:59

splice. Play

5:02

for everyone to say. To

5:05

just look at sir. Paul. It

5:07

it. Does

5:09

this list. Of

5:12

speechless. And. Is it

5:14

was on a puts it. Boss.

5:16

Out should stop taking a. Cool,

5:19

but those sounded Legacy Independent

5:22

Funeral Directors Limited in twenty

5:24

ten. He's

5:27

twenty two year old daughter says gets one

5:29

of his two. Children also

5:31

worked. The

5:33

business was renounces three premises one

5:36

eleven miles away in the Monkey

5:38

candid Everly and to in hum

5:40

the first on and the be

5:42

roads next door to a tanning

5:45

salon and a late night off

5:47

licence another on a small industrial

5:49

estate just of has a load.

5:54

this listen to legacy capital of

5:56

west where trust and had been

5:58

list of foods and his

6:00

grandmother Jessie's buddy had looked when

6:02

he went to see her. When

6:05

the funeral arrived he'd been

6:07

assured by Robert Bush that everything

6:09

had been taken care of. Then

6:11

we got a phone call. Hi

6:14

it's Rob from Legacy. I'm

6:18

just calling because we haven't

6:20

been able to get hold of a minister to

6:23

do you Grandma a service. I

6:26

was in absolute disbelief. The

6:29

day before the funeral he

6:32

told us that we'd have to have a celebrant. We

6:35

didn't really have a choice. The funeral's tomorrow and

6:38

I realised there's

6:40

no plaque on the coffin lid.

6:42

It's a sticky note. It's

6:44

got a name on it. It's

6:47

not my lannies. It's

6:49

a Jessica. Now

6:52

my Grandma's name was Jessie. I

6:54

wanted the plaque. It's a bare

6:56

minimum. About 11 days

6:58

later we'd received the

7:01

ashes in what I can

7:03

describe as a sweet jar. I thought

7:06

finally she's at rest. We've

7:09

got the ashes. We'd

7:12

obviously give out the ashes to the family

7:14

so they had a little piece of my Grandma to remember

7:16

her by. This isn't the

7:19

end of Tristan's story far from it.

7:21

He was about to become part of

7:24

what police describe as a truly horrific

7:26

investigation. On the

7:28

side please, how can I help? It

7:32

started on Wednesday March the

7:34

6th when the force received

7:36

a phone call from someone

7:38

expressing concern for the care

7:40

of the deceased. Officers

7:44

were sent to three locations,

7:46

all premises occupied by Legacy,

7:48

the branch in Beverly and the

7:51

two in Hull, including the chapel

7:53

of rest on that industrial estate

7:55

where Tristan had been left traumatised

7:58

after seeing his Grandmother. Police

8:00

have launched an investigation into a funeral

8:02

directive after what they said was a

8:04

report of Concerned for care of the

8:06

deceased families affected by the investigation

8:09

into three funeral premises in Hull

8:11

and East Yorkshire Say they've been

8:13

visited by specially trained officers Two

8:16

days after receiving that call the

8:18

police set up a direct phone

8:20

line for anyone who had concerns

8:22

to contact them In

8:25

homes across Hull the news had

8:27

been met with horror then

8:33

Good afternoon everyone I can confirm

8:35

at this stage that between Friday morning the 8th

8:37

of March and the evening

8:40

of Saturday the 9th of March we

8:42

have now recovered a total of 35 deceased

8:46

who have now been respectfully transported to the mortuary

8:48

in Hull and Formal

8:50

identification procedures and now taking place

8:54

in addition We have also recovered a quantity of

8:56

what we suspect to be human ashes We're

8:59

in the process It's not known what kind of scene

9:01

greeted the officers when they found the

9:03

bodies the police have given few details

9:06

But there was a growing sense of anger

9:08

in Hull People

9:11

were also confused and

9:13

been used I don't know if

9:15

she's at my home or if she's

9:17

back in the mortuary and I just want to

9:19

know Quick answers I've

9:21

had no phone call or anything from the police

9:24

I just want to know if she's in there with me

9:26

at home I'm just sat there staring

9:28

at her and wondering if she's in there or

9:30

if she's somewhere else When

9:37

Rita passed away, I didn't listen to

9:39

any news. I didn't have TV on

9:41

you know news and broke or anything

9:44

I didn't know until our next door

9:46

neighbour told me have you heard about

9:48

legacy? And I said what? So

9:51

the the cabin said well, he's been Investigated

9:54

This is Richard Shaw a retired bus

9:56

driver who lived near Beverly in East

9:59

Yorkshire. His. Wife way

10:01

to died in October last year soon after

10:03

being diagnosed with cancer. The tell me what

10:05

went through your mind, how did you feel

10:08

when you knew that they will been investigated?

10:10

Firm believer and I didn't

10:13

want to play that either.

10:15

process of the derived somebody

10:17

tracinda adjust. I was shocked.

10:19

Really shocked. Which. Had

10:21

and we had met and married

10:23

in this Sisters. He describes how

10:26

is the love of his life,

10:28

fun and caring woman who changed

10:30

his world. At. What point

10:32

did you begin to? will they that

10:34

way to may be involved in this?

10:36

Tell me about when you contacted the

10:38

place. To the three phone number

10:40

where you could ring Op Ed

10:43

or Oprah unexplained old situation about

10:45

return that and or has said

10:47

that get back in two thousand

10:49

Nine some new blue as movement

10:52

and choosy about phone call from

10:54

replace the Us me was her

10:56

into distinguishing marks on races all

10:58

day on acid so as a

11:00

butterfly on the shoulder of you

11:03

got any source address so maroon,

11:05

color over and stuff like that

11:07

did you think at. That point

11:09

because. You've already had reached his.

11:12

Is at that point didn't eat or

11:14

just come gusto You know me mammals

11:16

boson just could call for via you

11:19

know did fail are doing are

11:21

silly. Both are for how much more

11:23

can a person cope with the old

11:25

who knows Had heard. He.

11:27

And Rita had each paid nine

11:30

hundred and sixty four pounds to

11:32

Legacy for soon or plan which

11:34

provided something called a direct connection.

11:37

Is a no frills package which

11:39

doesn't include a funeral service something

11:41

they were those happy with. the

11:44

when we to died while but most

11:47

took care of the arrangements. Which

11:49

had then went to Legacy premises else

11:51

has a load. To. Collect his

11:54

wife's ashes, A gay

11:56

man, our cat carrier. black back,

11:58

partially decorated, The white box

12:00

and sad and in such a white box

12:03

was a back with ashes in those like

12:05

a label is it reads the show and

12:07

is given day when she passed away. It

12:10

was eleven weeks later. The.

12:12

News of the investigation. Blink when

12:14

Saturday Rinaldo Different stories about people

12:17

on Tv and radio effort well

12:19

I forgot races ashes are other

12:21

got somebody elses? I should just

12:23

go around a it's own offer

12:25

of i'm just gonna try and

12:27

think of it as raises. ah

12:30

she's not so good to tell

12:32

me about the cool that you

12:34

see someplace. Or got a

12:36

phone call on Good Friday and it

12:38

was from a lead a place lady

12:40

and she says something to tell you

12:42

reached set your why sashes or of

12:45

homes royal and send me a said

12:47

whoa about the ashes of got and

12:49

then ago and she says oh that

12:51

and said well we don't know but

12:53

you can keep the ashes issue on.

12:57

Says well I've had c r

12:59

she ear with day and going

13:01

to keep I'm said so the

13:03

said that saw rice and i

13:05

says. Though the reason than a caper

13:07

miss costs surpass I'm a no One

13:09

wants to keep him out of nowhere.

13:11

The care. I

13:13

remember think from a life and and

13:16

and wonder if spread around last. When.

13:18

Will you be able to get the answer is

13:20

to get meet. I don't

13:22

know the said at the present time because

13:25

of desks. Within.

13:27

Two days of the start of

13:29

their investigation, the police had received

13:31

three hundred and fifty calls from

13:33

concerned members of the public. Among.

13:36

Them twist in Essex off to

13:38

make in the initial phone call

13:40

somehow Tom. Would. Receive comes

13:42

hot sauces less than twelve August

13:45

last we had a phone call

13:47

in the afternoon to say com

13:49

a come visit it's replace the

13:51

read this this pre planned. Statement.

13:54

In the State Monday read: Thirty.

13:56

Four bodies had been discovered at Legacy

13:59

Will Belief on. the bodies to be

14:01

of late Jesse, the Grandma, because

14:03

of an ankle bracelet that the hospital had

14:05

put on in the mortuary. It

14:07

felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach.

14:10

We'd said it must be wrong.

14:13

The ashes are there on the

14:16

fireplace. They just sat right there.

14:18

I'd been talking to

14:20

them, you know, as if it was

14:22

my Grandma and we don't even know

14:24

who's in this ashes box. We

14:27

don't know if they're real human ashes, if

14:29

it's several people, even if it's brick dust

14:31

or cement or what. I offered the ashes

14:34

back to the police and I said, you

14:36

know, I feel really uncomfortable. Obviously we know

14:38

it's not my Grandma. Can you

14:40

take them back? They actually told us to hang

14:42

on to them until we get some more information

14:44

and things and they still sat on my fireplace.

14:47

You know, I feel very uncomfortable at the

14:50

here and obviously they're not our loved one.

14:52

They're not my Grandma. At the

14:54

same time as Tristan learned that the

14:56

ashes on his fireplace might not have

14:58

been his grandmother's, Robert

15:00

Bush and his daughter Saskia

15:02

were arrested at Heathrow Airport

15:05

by officers from the Metropolitan

15:07

Police after stepping off a

15:09

flight from Los Angeles. I

15:12

can confirm that a man and a

15:14

woman have been arrested on suspicion of

15:16

the prevention and lawful and decent burial,

15:18

fraud by false representation and

15:20

fraud by abusive position. They

15:22

have since been released on police bail

15:24

with conditions whilst our investigations continue. By

15:27

Tuesday, five days after the police

15:29

started their investigation, 120 officers were

15:32

working on

15:34

the case and a thousand people

15:36

had called them. One

15:41

of them, a woman who asked

15:43

not to be identified, told

15:45

me her mum had died in July

15:47

last year after what she described as

15:49

a terrible and lung illness. She

15:54

sent me a lung WhatsApp message which

15:56

we asked an actor to read. At

15:59

the time I was... so traumatized

16:01

and physically and mentally

16:03

exhausted by the experiences I've just

16:06

shared with my mum, I

16:09

didn't really take much in or question

16:11

anything. When I

16:13

went to Legacy to see my mum in the

16:15

viewing room, I was

16:18

told by Rob that I couldn't

16:20

see her because she'd already started

16:22

to decompose. I

16:25

didn't question it as I was too heartbroken that

16:27

I wasn't ever going to see my mum again.

16:30

She told me she'd been left traumatized after

16:33

being told why it wasn't possible to see

16:35

her mum for the last time. In

16:38

the following weeks I tried to arrange to collect my

16:40

mum's ashes and each time was given a different

16:42

reason. He was busy, he went

16:45

in the building as he was in back to back

16:47

funerals, and other time it was because

16:49

he was in Doncaster and didn't know what time he would

16:51

get back. On the

16:53

23rd of September I was sick

16:55

of waiting so I just went to Legacy on Essel

16:57

Road as I wanted my mum back. He

17:00

took me in and sat me in a room while he went

17:02

through the back but he locked the door to the room I

17:04

was in. I was sat

17:07

there over half an hour for him

17:09

to come back in and tell me he couldn't

17:11

find her ashes. There must

17:13

have been misplaced. How

17:15

do you lose or misplace someone's ashes? Later

17:19

that night he turned up at my house and passed me

17:21

the ashes. My

17:23

mum's ashes don't seem full. I've

17:25

always said they don't feel half as heavy as my dad's

17:28

and my mum was bigger and heavier. The

17:31

bag feels half empty. She'd

17:33

planned to scatter her mum's ashes on

17:35

Mother's Day, the 10th of March, but

17:38

she hasn't been able to do that. We're

17:40

all living in a nightmare, sat

17:43

waiting for answers. I have

17:46

millions of questions running around my

17:48

head. How could we let the ashes go

17:50

knowing it might not be all of her or

17:53

even her at all? It's

17:56

soul destroying. from

18:00

legacy's high street premises is

18:02

a former police chief, now

18:05

occupied by Mixon's family funeral

18:07

director. Kevin Mixon is sharply

18:10

dressed in a grey suit.

18:13

He was a police officer for more

18:15

than 20 years before sustaining a wrist

18:17

injury, forcing him to retire from his

18:19

job as a bubby in North Yorkshire.

18:22

That's when he started working as a

18:25

trainee funeral director. The

18:29

walls in the reception area

18:31

are covered in framed certificates

18:33

and diplomas. So this is

18:35

what we call column bearing, which is the area

18:38

where we keep cremated remains. And

18:40

as you can see inside here, we've

18:42

got shells which are labelled with various

18:44

letters, so they're all in alphabetic load.

18:46

They'll come back usually in the cardboard

18:48

box depending which crematorium they've been cremationed

18:51

to place at. It'll have

18:53

the name and details on here of the

18:55

deceased, the cremation number, etc. I can see

18:57

that there are labels all over that. There

18:59

are labels on the paper bag, on the

19:02

box, on the carrier bag, on the shelf.

19:04

There's a certificate. There were many layers of

19:06

identification. There is. It tells you the date and time

19:08

of the cremation. It tells you the other funeral directories.

19:10

It tells you the crematorium where it took place and

19:13

confirms. We've asked Kevin to give us

19:15

a rare glimpse of what happens behind the

19:17

scenes at his funeral home. So it's

19:19

paramount that that document, the cremation certificate,

19:21

stays with the cremated remains, because they

19:24

are still human remains. And

19:26

so you've always got an audit trail all the way

19:28

through. It will be extremely difficult to get it mixed

19:30

up. When you go and you've had a cremation at

19:33

a crematorium, when you go to pick those cremated remains

19:35

up, you have to sign their register so that you

19:37

or one of your staff or whoever it is has

19:39

picked those remains up. Are they a requirement? No, you're

19:41

not forced to keep them, but any funeral director will

19:44

want that information because you never know when you might

19:46

need to look back at it. It

19:48

might surprise you to know that

19:50

the funeral industry isn't regulated. In

19:53

2020, the Competition and Markets

19:55

Authority called for the introduction

19:57

of formal regulation and... mandatory

20:00

inspections of what they call

20:02

back of house services. The

20:05

Scottish Government has put in place a

20:07

mandatory Code of Conduct, but

20:09

there's nothing similar in the rest of the UK. If

20:12

I was setting a cafe up on the corner

20:14

of the street here, I'd have to have environmental

20:16

health come and check the premises for hygiene, I'd

20:18

have to have a food safety certificate or something

20:20

along those lines before I start selling food. But

20:22

as a funeral director, sadly, there

20:24

are no regulations yet. You could open

20:27

the shop up next door as a funeral director knowing virtually

20:29

as ill she built it. Are you surprised

20:32

that mistakes could happen within

20:35

a funeral home? Mistakes can always

20:37

happen. And by mistakes, I mean things like, you

20:39

know, you might get the wrong flowers ordered, you

20:41

might get a press notice wrong for somebody if

20:43

they're in a newspaper notice, things like that. Whilst

20:48

there is no statutory regulation of

20:50

funeral directors, there are a number

20:53

of trade bodies. One

20:55

of the biggest is the National

20:57

Association of Funeral Directors, or

20:59

NAFD, which represents

21:01

around four and a half thousand

21:03

of the six thousand funeral businesses

21:06

in the UK. Bylon4

21:08

has learned that Legacy joined

21:10

the NAFD in 2011, a

21:13

year after the family business was founded. But

21:16

its membership lapsed in late

21:18

2020. And according

21:21

to the organisation's CEO, Andrew

21:23

Judd, it was six

21:25

years ago when its premises were last inspected.

21:28

There were a few very minor

21:30

comments that we noted from our

21:32

inspection, all that were very swiftly

21:35

resolved and were of an

21:37

administration nature. They were

21:40

clean, they were comfortable, they were well

21:42

presented. And in the one

21:44

site where there was a mortuary, we

21:46

were very comfortable with that. But

21:48

the business can change considerably in

21:50

six years. One woman has

21:53

told us that she couldn't see her mother's

21:55

body because it was in a state of

21:57

decomposition after just a few days. Is that

21:59

normal? No, it's not

22:01

normal and we

22:04

have very clear guidelines for our

22:06

members on how to safeguard deceased

22:08

people. Are funeral directors

22:10

legally required to have a work

22:13

in refrigeration unit? No

22:15

they're not and that is what we

22:17

are campaigning for is for

22:19

some statutory help from the government so

22:22

that we can legally enforce. If

22:24

a funeral director chooses not to join a

22:27

professional trade association or chooses to

22:29

leave one then they are not

22:31

under the scrutiny of anybody

22:33

and we don't feel that that is

22:36

the right situation. We feel there should

22:38

be a level playing field and

22:40

consistent standards of care and safeguard

22:42

for the deceased wherever they are.

22:45

The Competition and Markets Authority

22:47

report from 2020 was primarily

22:49

focused on the cost of

22:52

funerals but it also

22:54

uncovered serious concerns about back

22:57

of house procedures by some

22:59

funeral companies. Funeral

23:02

Partners, the third biggest provider

23:04

of funeral services behind the

23:07

co-op and dignity, told investigators

23:10

it had witnessed dreadful practices at some

23:12

companies when it viewed them with the

23:14

intention to buy the business. Bodies

23:17

included insufficient storage space

23:19

leading to topping and tailing of

23:22

corpses, bodies

23:24

left on the floor, poor

23:27

identification procedures surrounding corpses

23:29

and ashes increasing the

23:31

risk of incorrect identification

23:34

and a lack of appropriate embalming

23:36

facilities such as proper drainage and

23:38

ventilation. Something

23:43

terrible has happened in Hull but

23:46

if something good comes out of it then

23:48

we should seize the day and we should

23:50

put our shoulder behind it. We

23:53

know that it matters because we hear

23:55

so much the difference that

23:57

a funeral director has made to a family of the

23:59

two. when they've lost somebody that they love and

24:02

we shouldn't lose sight of that. We've all

24:04

been to funerals and seen

24:07

the coffins and the flowers and the

24:09

herses and the service but

24:11

what we're saying is integrity

24:14

is about doing the right thing when

24:16

nobody's looking at you. Despite

24:19

its membership having lapsed, stickers bearing

24:21

the trade body's name were still

24:23

on display above the door of

24:26

the premises in Annabell Road and

24:28

a blog in the information section of the

24:31

company's website said it was a member. Let's

24:33

be clear, when an organisation chooses

24:36

to leave our membership that's

24:39

a travesty because we

24:41

lose the oversight and if they

24:43

don't comply with the rules

24:46

and regulations of leaving a

24:48

trade association we have

24:50

no statutory teeth on that. We

24:52

will enhance our digital

24:54

sweeping because there's so

24:57

many things on the internet that

24:59

we can't control but if

25:01

we ever come across a member that is

25:04

displaying something on their website they shouldn't be

25:07

then we can ask them not to. But

25:10

again, we don't have the teeth to stop

25:12

them. By the 15th of

25:14

March, a week after the 35 bodies

25:17

had been removed, police said all

25:19

the families had been contacted. By

25:22

now they'd received more than 1,500 calls

25:24

from concerned relatives

25:27

and the National Crime Agency

25:29

was helping with what they

25:31

described as an extremely complex

25:33

investigation. We are continuing

25:36

to support the families involved through this

25:38

extremely difficult and distressing time. This

25:41

has been a truly horrific

25:43

incident and understandably they

25:45

are distraught and have many questions to

25:47

be answered. They

25:50

said attempts to identify ashes

25:52

recovered from the premises were

25:54

ongoing. You

26:01

do it Said it was she has ever

26:03

seen the rather have her Billie Joe So

26:06

so. The weights Most

26:08

excruciating. She.

26:10

Lives on the great feel the state to

26:12

the east of whole city center with her

26:14

two daughters and have five month old baby

26:17

boy. She.

26:20

Lost her brother Dwayne and her father

26:22

Andrew within five days of each other,

26:25

nearly two years ago in July. Twenty

26:27

Twenty Two. About the

26:29

scene will happen quickly. But. Had

26:31

Dots was delayed by five

26:33

months. Well. Over a

26:35

year later, She's. Still hasn't

26:38

received his ashes. the

26:40

so soon or both got left the

26:42

may I didn't know what I've never

26:44

even as an act that in of

26:46

land for funerals Astral gold that and

26:48

then and that Iraq is like to

26:50

say and they took mobile that we

26:52

had my brother's funeral quite quick said

26:54

it go message from up have lots

26:56

of money in his arm crackle. Term

26:59

fed swim. Cerebral had it

27:01

would send off with it off him up

27:03

as I. Madame. The of

27:05

ram doesn't have the funds for that

27:07

say I explained some all that in

27:09

up the phone for it'll can still

27:11

which officer was else has to out

27:13

without dimmable rebels in a restroom together.

27:16

On can edit everything hit the as a

27:18

while the soon will what made you choose

27:21

Legacy as a translator say was just the

27:23

and passion that without make every of the

27:25

shuttle power what causes the money situation desert

27:27

didn't win an earth to their lie of

27:30

say I was a major doesn't have enough

27:32

for me See faces questions asked me. When

27:34

I'm pregnant from Roses? Been

27:37

on. Surveys.

27:40

Can. See, this is really artfully. of

27:43

her mother mobile home but as a

27:46

suit offer that was gonna get cremated

27:48

by the council of as is everything

27:50

him up how it operates and not

27:52

let that says but after her initial

27:54

release that she'd found a funeral director

27:57

has taken the responsibility of giving her

27:59

dead. The to other a

28:01

dignified sendoff. She. Say She

28:03

later became concerned about some of the

28:05

things she had been told about of

28:07

of a tracksuit got medieval will smile

28:10

when ass rob see if i could

28:12

see him with on if so a

28:14

pull it off the added even questionnaire

28:16

destroys is doing it is it It

28:18

looked the same he said. As

28:20

to Dwayne service she say she then

28:23

sold out forms with Will but Bush

28:25

and applied for funding for her father's

28:27

funeral to the Departments of Work and

28:29

Pensions. My dad didn't get

28:32

life as said the still savants last

28:34

I've met up with as in the

28:36

July and August said essential to December

28:39

hopefully the films in with Rob Etiquette

28:41

said emailed it and every summer during

28:43

the to we'll pay dirt cheap. Well

28:46

prepared for the funeral. I can't say

28:48

that it receives nothing satellite for any

28:50

question that may vices I just read.

28:53

did it again redid the from. Angleton,

28:56

Silda and myself over the phone

28:58

and it miles and close and.

29:00

Love but pats them on a so

29:03

then we have the service and I

29:05

as much as but if his albums

29:07

and the light travels they pushed in

29:09

anything. I was wonderful

29:11

Orion's red moon to build like the west

29:13

of as a base they would have made

29:15

ring in a mosque in the a seat

29:18

as out yet to that's all it to

29:20

up with a funeral of secrecy with the

29:22

time. Of the drug another. love it

29:24

so long but. Yeah. If Eight eighty

29:26

Eight, so consoles or December today,

29:29

so it out. After the funeral

29:31

finally happened. Billie. Joe made

29:33

several attempts to get hold of

29:35

her dad's ashes. But. The

29:37

No Vale. Of it's own you

29:39

serving in it but the under such a

29:41

sad with for that they will call Buster

29:44

Posey else made it like I was a

29:46

call Yeah Thanks Love love No worries I

29:48

feel about sharing amongst the olivier wire during

29:50

the funeral. Hundred rooms are sick for the

29:52

out Me and I was at Great Falls

29:54

a asset like I owed him some. On.

29:57

A pool. The force. The. Police. another

30:00

press conference, sharing dreadful

30:02

news that many families didn't want to

30:05

hear. Unfortunately, given the high

30:07

temperature required to carry out cremation, the

30:09

DNA will have been broken down and

30:11

degraded to such a level that we

30:13

would not be able to recover a

30:15

meaningful DNA profile. This

30:18

means that we are unable to attribute

30:20

any of the human ashes or identify

30:22

them. Billy Joe has now lost all

30:24

hope of ever being able to get

30:26

hold of her dad's ashes, and

30:29

for Richard Shaw, the retired bus

30:31

driver who was given the wrong

30:33

ashes after the death of his

30:36

wife Rita, there was another

30:38

blow. Richard, we've got here

30:40

in front of us two policies

30:42

because you'd actually prepaid for yours

30:44

and Rita's funeral with

30:46

legacy, haven't you? Tell me

30:49

about the process of buying these policies

30:51

from legacy. Well, it

30:53

came down to the house and

30:56

he said, ask me what we

30:58

wanted and we explained what we

31:00

wanted and then Rita paid for

31:02

the price for the funerals

31:05

with a card and then it came out of a bank.

31:08

These documents are incredibly official

31:10

looking. They state on them

31:13

that the policy

31:15

is with an insurance

31:17

company called Ecclesiastical. You

31:20

have rang them this past week, haven't you, to

31:22

check on your plans? Yes, I

31:25

run last week to double check on

31:28

things and there's no record

31:30

of mine or Rita's policy on

31:32

them at all. I

31:35

think if Rita's allowed, I think she'd be

31:38

heartfully heartbroken. What? You trust somebody,

31:40

she would not be able to

31:43

grasp it. She'd go crackers,

31:45

absolute crackers. Richard

31:47

wasn't alone. A couple

31:49

of weeks after the start of

31:51

the police investigation, it transpired that

31:53

others who'd bought funeral plans from

31:55

legacy had been told there

31:58

was no record of their policies. This

32:00

is a booklet we got from Legacy when

32:03

we met him up at Beverly. Seemed really

32:05

well, everything professional, it looks good. And

32:07

in the end, it's a lot of money that

32:09

you can ill afford to lose and now we've

32:11

got to do it all again. So it's going

32:13

to be another, at least another maybe £4,000 because

32:17

they've all gone up since. I needed to have it

32:19

all settled and done to make me feel

32:21

better. Afterward we paid so we

32:23

didn't have any more worries. We had

32:26

the money then. About £10,000 we've lost between us. So

32:31

we're all in the same boat, we're all retired,

32:34

we're all in pensions, you know. You

32:36

have to be careful now we're in the same boat. It's

32:38

sad. Hull

32:40

City Council has said it became

32:42

apparent in February last year that

32:44

Legacy's debts were becoming significant. At

32:46

the time they owed over £50,000, some

32:49

of which was unpaid fees for

32:53

using the Council's crematorium. The

32:56

Council obtained the county court judgment

32:59

by February this year. Legacy

33:01

had cleared just over £10,000 of that debt.

33:06

The BBC also understands the company owes

33:08

£2,000 to each round of Yorkshire Council

33:11

for unpaid burial fees. Now

33:14

looking now on the company's house

33:16

website, on several occasions

33:19

between January 2022 and March of this

33:21

year, Legacy

33:24

was given formal notices that it

33:26

would be struck off the company

33:28

register and would no longer legally

33:30

exist according to company's house. However,

33:33

on four occasions

33:35

Legacy was given a reprieve and

33:38

a fifth warning was temporarily suspended

33:40

on the 19th of March because

33:43

the registrar received an objection.

33:47

Last week a formal move to

33:49

dissolve the firm also stalled. The

33:52

government has pledged up to £2m

33:55

of funding to support families affected,

33:58

many of them live in the house. The

34:00

Pezzle Road area wants the

34:02

heart of the city's fishing

34:04

industry. Emma Hardy is

34:06

a Labour MP there. The particular area

34:08

that we're talking about today that's been

34:10

most impacted by legacy funeral

34:12

is the poorest part of

34:14

the constituency. It's an area

34:16

that suffers multiple disadvantage and

34:19

it's an area that's faced a huge amount

34:21

of challenge. But it's also an

34:23

area of a very, very tight community as

34:25

well. This area doesn't have an

34:27

awful lot of trust in people of authority.

34:31

To be honest, they don't naturally

34:34

revere or respect people in authority. This

34:36

was somebody who was respected in the community,

34:38

the number of people who told me how

34:40

nice he was, how friendly he was, how

34:42

charming he was. He couldn't do enough for

34:44

us. I think it's been a huge blow.

34:48

It's not just 35 families because this

34:50

has affected the whole community, the people

34:52

who live down the same

34:54

street, the people who are related and linked

34:56

to each other. So it's

34:58

devastated. Since the investigation

35:00

into legacy began, a number of vigils

35:03

have taken place in Hull. They've

35:07

allowed families to come together and

35:09

grieve. Many of

35:11

the people I've spoken to while

35:13

making this programme have said that

35:15

having unidentified ashes in their home

35:17

is causing them huge distress. Many

35:20

have talked about the need for a

35:22

group memorial plot in which to place

35:24

these ashes. But that's

35:26

expensive. One of the

35:29

things that the families were talking to me about at

35:31

the vigil is the idea of

35:33

some lasting memorial. One of the

35:35

ladies who was talking to me, she said, if we all

35:37

got a symbol for all of

35:40

the ashes that we'd all collected, that

35:42

we'd all been given, and we

35:44

put them all somewhere in a place

35:46

altogether, everybody did that, then

35:48

we'd know. She was saying, I'd know

35:50

if I went there. My

35:53

loved one would be there if everyone

35:55

had done it. Hull City Council told

35:57

us they would be liaising with those

35:59

affected. and the wider community

36:02

in the coming weeks to agree

36:04

how unidentified ashes should be

36:06

laid to rest. They've also called

36:08

for the government to introduce regulation

36:11

of the funeral industry as a

36:13

matter of urgency. They

36:15

say they're focusing on ensuring the

36:17

families get the support they need

36:20

and that they're offering advice and

36:22

counselling. Humberside

36:25

Police have warned this will be a

36:27

long investigation. In the

36:29

meantime, the families involved are

36:31

left in limbo. I

36:34

feel more relaxed compared to what

36:36

some people are going through. At least I know

36:39

I'll have a closure in time, but when

36:41

the time will come I don't know. I

36:44

don't know if it's going to be weeks or years, I

36:46

don't know. We've got no closure. We don't know if that

36:48

is my brother and I don't know where my dad is. It's

36:51

a real overwhelming feeling like my heart sinks. It

36:53

begs me not to let no one bury him,

36:55

it begs me to make sure that I keep

36:57

him within. He stays

36:59

with me no matter where I move, he says

37:01

always take me where you are. So

37:04

you can't wear this scat room anyway, can you? No,

37:06

that's what I mean. I want a scat room because I'm

37:08

scared that they're not his, but what if they are his?

37:12

But if they're not, then

37:14

the thought of it, the anxieties, and really

37:17

breathtaking. I panic about him, I feel

37:20

like he's lost. I

37:22

need to go look for him. This

37:27

File on 4 podcast was presented

37:30

by Lindsay Smith and produced by

37:32

Nicola Dowling and Holly Clemens. The

37:34

technical producer was Craig Boardman

37:37

and the production coordinator was

37:39

Tim Fernley. The editor

37:41

was Carl Johnston. It

37:43

was a BBC long form audio production

37:46

for BBC Sounds where you can find

37:48

more radio, music and podcasts.