Richard Burrows: Serial Sex Offender Jailed For 46 Years

Serial paedophile Richard Burrows has been jailed for 46 years for a catalog of historic sexual offences he committed against young boys.

Now 81, the former boarding school housemaster and scout leader, spent 27 years on the run in Thailand before he was arrested at Heathrow Airport last year. 

Before his trial, Burrows admitted 43 offences, including indecent assault of boys, making indecent images of children, possession of indecent images of children and four counts of possession of false identity documents with intent.

He denied 54 others but was found guilty at Chester Crown Court last month.

Those offences include indecent assault of boys, buggery, attempted buggery and indecency with a child.

The court heard that Burrows had obtained positions of authority and systematically abused 24 boys from the 1960s to the mid-1990s.

He had worked as a housemaster at a school for troubled boys and befriended other youngsters through amateur radio clubs.

Burrows was initially charged in May 1997 but failed to attend a hearing later that year, choosing instead to flee to Thailand to escape his punishment.

He remained on the wanted list until police using facial recognition software matched him to a man using the name Peter Smith. He had stolen the identity of a terminally ill friend to obtain a passport.

Burrows described "living in paradise" in emails found after his eventual arrest and only returned to the UK once he ran out of money.

The judge Steven Everett told Burrows: "You are a despicable man. You have ruined countless lives. These serious sexual assaults were committed by you because you are a predator. You deliberately positioned yourself among groups and communities to get closer to them, and to groom and sexually abuse young boys."

The judge said he had "no doubt" he was never going to come back to the UK had he not run out of money and been diagnosed with cancer. "I have seen no remorse in your behaviour," he added.

After he was sentenced, Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson branded him a "coward".

"He knew he was guilty in 1997, but rather than face the consequences of his actions, he fled the country after fraudulently obtaining a passport using the identity of an unwell man," she said. "He spent the last 27 years, in his own words, 'living in paradise'. It is clear that he did not spare a thought for his victims, who were trying to live their lives under the shadow of the abuse they had suffered."

Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Samantha Thompson said Burrows will "very likely never leave prison". "Burrows is an unrepentant paedophile who used his position of trust to sexually abuse boys over three decades," she said.

"His victims suffered horrendous abuse made worse by many of them not being able to tell anyone for fear that they would not be believed." "This was borne out in some cases, where boys did speak up but were dismissed, and Burrows was able to move on."

James Harvey was befriended by Burrows through his involvement with the sea scouts. Burrows admitted indecently assaulting James in a caravan after visiting an RAF show.

Mr Harvey has waived his right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence.

He told Sky News that he was "grateful to everybody who has been involved in getting him [Burrows] to court. For all of the victims, many of whom have died since they knew him, some of whom were in court. The police, the court system, over 40 years".