BY JACK WATSON
In Hull it seems that even one of the Corporal Works of Mercy – to bury the dead – can be turned into a scam.
Legacy, an independent family-owned funeral directors, established in 2010, with two branches in Hull and one in Beverley, has made the news headlines for all the wrong reasons after it was raided by police last month due to concerns over the storage and care of corpses. Humberside Police have been investigating ever since and have received a string of calls – around 2,000 – inquiring into the business.
While the signage has been removed from the shop fronts at the Beverley branch and one branch in Hull their entry at the Beyond Life website can still be found. Here they claim to take the ‘utmost pride’ in their ‘highly professional service’ they run (or ran). They are ‘bound by the highest standards of practice’ which will ensure ‘your loved ones will always be treated with the care and attention that is due in such difficult times.’
These words must be hard to swallow for the families that have been affected by the company.
Shortly after the raids, two people were arrested, a 23-year old woman and a 46-year old man, on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position. In addition, the firm owes the local authority £51,508 for unpaid charges, including cremation and burial fees, which Hull City Council became aware of in February last year. Also, this is not the first time the firm has been investigated; since 2022 it has been issued five First Gazette Notices advising the public and any other parties associated with the business that it will be closed down if no objections were made, and it has been threatened to be struck off by the National Association of Funeral Directors. Legacy managed to challenge these threats of closure and to stay in business.
The two suspects have been let out on bail whilst investigations continue. Thirty-five bodies have been recovered from the premises and have been taken to another mortuary for further analysis. The force have also hired a specialist team to examine a quantity of ashes recovered from the site. Unfortunately, they were not able to identify to whom the ashes belonged because DNA is destroyed by fire.
The most egregious aspect of this situation is, not only have families paid thousands of pounds for funerals and other costs, but the families also had to be called back to identify the bodies.
The distress is unimaginable.
In one case, a widow was told by police that her husband’s body had been found in a freezer and she had to see it again to give them the necessary confirmations. Some people have also pre-paid for funerals and had handed over nearly £5,000, only to discover a year later that there was no record of their prepaid policy.
Hull City Council have now confirmed that a petition against Legacy would be considered at a court hearing on 9 April 2024.
Specific matters such as payments for wakes, flowers, or if there will be a ‘large civic funeral’ or individual funerals for the deceased are yet to be decided.
I am from Hull. I am ashamed by what has happened in my town.
Hopefully this petition triumphs and there also needs to be some compensation to the families who have been affected by this mess.
Humberside Police have revealed little information about this case but have opened up a line for people to call if they want to speak about this issue.
But questions must be asked at some point about why, with Legacy’s record of problems spanning two years, what precisely those problems were and why they were able to continue burying and cremating (or not burying and cremating, as is alleged) the deceased of Hull and East Riding.
Hull is better than this.
Jack Watson is a 15-year-old schoolboy, who has a Substack about being a Hull City fan. You can subscribe to it here. This article about Hull was assisted by his Grandfather Roger, a regular on Country Squire Magazine.