Grieving mum was told baby's ashes were animal remains

Grieving mum was told baby's ashes were animal remainsImage caption, Lucy Ness says police told her an urn given to her by funeral director Robert Bush contained animal's remainsByLinsey Smith and Kevin Shoesmith, East Yorkshire and LincolnshirePublished5 minutes agoA woman who suffered a miscarriage says she was told by police ashes returned to her by funeral director Robert Bush were "animal remains".The BBC understands police were unable to verify the origin of the ashes, but believed they may not be human.Lucy Ness, 28, told the BBC: "Police visited to tell me that the ashes that he had given me were animal remains."Bush, 48, is being sentenced at Hull Crown Court for 67 offences, including denying 30 people a decent and proper burial and fraud charges relating to presenting families with the ashes of strangers.Image source, Lucy NessImage caption, Ness had an early scan due to health complicationsNess suffered a miscarriage just before she was due to have her 12-week scan on April 20 2021.She told how she had treasured the ashes for three years. "They had sat on my shelf next to my baby scan," said Ness.In court, prosecutor Chris Paxton KC said "the ashes that Lucy was given could not have been those of her baby".The barrister did not state that they were of animal origin.Ness was clear to the BBC, however, that police had told her the ashes were animal remains.Her disgust at Bush was clear.She said: "How can somebody with a duty of care do this to my family?"She and her partner, Callum Ellerby, were told their baby was cremated on 10 May 2021. "We didn't know the gender," said Ness. "We were not going to know the gender." The day after the cremation was meant to have taken place, Bush, from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, rang her and asked her to collect the ashes, which she did.They were contained in a white china urn with a teddy bear embossed on it, Ness recalled.Whe...