Kathryn Howard read a victim personal statement to Robert Bush’s sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court relating to her long-term partner John Butler, who died aged 73 in June 2023.

Ms Howard said: “Meeting Robert Bush changed my life. I lost my partner of 28 years in June 2023 through cancer and it felt like I’d lost a part of me.”

She said: “Over time I was slowly coming to terms with my loss but when I had a knock on the door on the night of March 11 2024 my world fell apart all over again.

“My partner, John, could be one of the bodies found at Legacy. My John. In the place I’d laid him to rest so many months before.”

Ms Howard said: “Rob promised me he’d look after John and he didn’t, not at all.”

She said: “I feel like I’ve let John down – by choosing Legacy, by trusting Rob Bush.

“I just can’t believe what that man has done. How can he hurt people like that?

“Would he do it to his own family, treat them this way?

“An apology would not be enough for me.

“It could never take away the pain and grief that I feel for enduring not one but two funerals for my lovely John. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

“I want Rob Bush to look me in the eyes and explain himself. I want him to know that I will never, ever, get over this.”