A prolific sex offender who stole an innocent man’s identity and spent almost three decades on the run has been found guilty of numerous sexual offences against young boys.
Richard Burrows was found guilty at Chester Crown Court today of 54 offences including indecent assault of boys, buggery, attempted buggery and indecency with a child.
The 80-year-old, formerly of Audlem, had already pleaded guilty to 43 offences.
These included 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.
Burrows was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Monday April 7 for a total of 97 offences.
The court heard how between 1968 and 1995 Burrows systematically abused 24 young boys across the Cheshire, West Midlands and West Mercia areas.
The offences in Cheshire occurred between 1969 and 1971 while he was working as a Housemaster, looking after vulnerable children at Danesford Children’s Home in Congleton.
His victims in the West Midlands and West Mercia areas were also all young boys who were abused between 1968 and 1995, the majority through local Scout groups where Burrows worked as a leader.
In each case, he befriended the victims by using his position of trust over them and their personal interests, such as radio communications or boating.
After gaining their trust, and in many cases the trust of their families, Burrows then went on to sexually abuse the boys.
While some of his victims attempted to speak out at the time, many simply did not feel that they would be believed.
It was not until the 1990s, following revelations in relation to offences at other children’s homes and institutions, that many of the victims came forward.
A large-scale investigation was launched by detectives from Cheshire Police in 1994.
Burrows was initially arrested in April 1997 and was charged in May 1997 with two counts of buggery and 11 counts of indecent assault in relation to the offences in Cheshire and some in the West Midlands.
After his initial appearance in magistrates’ courts, he was released on bail by the court and was due to attend a further hearing at Chester Crown Court on December 8 1997.
However, Burrows failed to attend and officers discovered he had disappeared.
Over the past 27 years, detectives from Cheshire Police have been carrying out multiple inquiries to locate him.
This included several wanted appeals and four Crimewatch appeals on national television as well as following up numerous leads, none of which indicated Burrows had left the country.
The investigation also included inquiries with agencies and institutions in the UK and border and international checks, however there was no trace of him either within or outside of the UK.
Burrows remained on the Cheshire Police wanted list for 27 years and his case was regularly reviewed.
There was no trace until April 2023 when detectives from the force’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit used specialist software to search for any possible images of Burrows online.
After searching through billions of images, the system came back with a match for a man using the name of Peter Smith living in Chalong in Phuket, Thailand.
‘Peter’ had an active interest in sailing and had previously been working at an advertising company in Phuket.
He had even featured in the local news in 2019 when he retired from his job.
Following further inquiries, officers discovered Burrows had stolen the name Peter Smith from an acquaintance who was terminally ill.
This allowed him to fraudulently obtain a “genuine” passport in 1997 and leave the country without detection.
After confirming that “Peter” was in fact Burrows, officers contacted the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service and began the process to extradite him to the UK.
Before that started, officers became aware of Burrows’ intention to return to the UK travelling under the alias of Peter Smith.
The NCA informed Thai authorities and monitored his travel back to the UK.
He was arrested as soon as he landed at Heathrow.
Following his arrest, Burrows was charged in relation to further offences in Cheshire, the West Midlands and West Mercia which had been reported since his disappearance.
A number of victims had come forward at different times to different police forces over the years as a result of media and Crimewatch appeals and because they felt the time was right for them to tell their story.
Some victims also came forward on seeing that Burrows had been arrested.
Det Insp Eleanor Atkinson, who had led the investigation, said: “Our determination to locate Burrows over the past 27 years has not faltered and I welcome the verdict reached by the jury.
“It is clear that he is a prolific sex offender.
“He systematically abused his victims, specifically targeting vulnerable boys in order to fulfil his own sexual gratification.
“Following his initial charges in 1997, Burrows knew he was guilty but rather than face the consequences of his actions, he acted like a coward and fled the country using a stolen identity taken from an unwell man.
“In emails that we have found since his arrest, Burrows described how he has spent the past three decades ‘living in paradise’, while his victims have all been left to suffer as they struggled to try and rebuild their lives.
“Thankfully, following our determination, he has finally been held accountable for his actions and is now behind bars where he belongs.
“It was clear throughout his trial that he did not feel remorse and had not thought at any point while living abroad about the impact his abuse had on his young victims.
“While his victims will never be able to forget what happened to them, I hope the fact Burrows has now been held accountable will finally provide them with some closure.
“Sadly, four of his victims have now passed away and so did not get to see justice served.
“I also hope that this case acts as a warning to any other wanted suspects – demonstrating that no matter how long you hide, we will find you and you will be held accountable.”
Detective Inspector Atkinson added: “Cheshire Constabulary takes any allegation of sexual offences extremely seriously, no matter how long ago they relate to, as this case shows.
“Any allegation will be thoroughly investigated, with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority. Victims should never feel ashamed to talk about what they have been subjected to.
“They will receive the help and support they need from our specialist officers, as well as from other support agencies we work alongside, and all victims of sexual offences have the right to anonymity for life.”
Sexual offences can be reported to Cheshire Constabulary via https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report or by calling 101.
They can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers, via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously
If you have any specific information relating to the Burrows case which you wish to share, visit https://mipp.police.uk/operation/07CH23D51
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